Talitha Kum Training Manual

Transcription

Talitha Kum
Training Manual
Weaving a web is a skill that you learn while watching, with interest and
attention, the hands of those who carefully weave the threads and knots, as
the canvas grows and takes the desired shape.
Weaving a network is a method of working that favours gestures and tools
that unite, as participants come together, facilitating interaction and encounter. The threads, bound together in a network become more resistant
and are transformed by the process.
This text is the development of the 2004 edition, edited by Stefano Volpicelli and published by the IOM International Organization for Migration, as
part of the “Training Program for Religious Personnel Working to Counteract
Trafficking in Persons”, developed together with the US Embassy to the Holy
See and funded by the US government. This work has contributed to the
formation of Talitha Kum.
For Women Religious Active
in the Prevention of Human Trafficking
and Assisting its Victims
www.talithakum.info
www.uisg.org
January 2016
Talitha Kum is an international network of Consecrated Life against
trafficking in persons. Working as a network facilitates collaboration
and the interchange of information between consecrated men and
women in 70 countries.
Talita Kum was founded in 2009. It arose from the shared desire
to coordinate and strengthen the already existing activities against
trafficking undertaken by consecrated persons in the five continents.
Talita Kum is a network of networks, organized in many different
ways, each promoting initiatives against trafficking in persons in their
particular contexts and cultures.
Talita Kum is an expression that is found in the Gospel of Mark (5,
41). The words, translated from the Aramaic mean “Maiden, I say to
you, arise.” These words are addressed by Jesus to the twelve year
old daughter of Jairus, who lay apparently lifeless. After uttering
these words, Jesus took her by the hand and she immediately got up
and walked.
The expression “Talitha Kum” has the transformative power of
compassion and mercy, which awakens the deep desire for dignity and
life which may be asleep and injured by the many forms of exploitation.
It is a project of the International Union of Superiors General (UISG),
in collaboration with the Union of Superiors General (USG).
www.talithakum.info
LUISG (International Union of Superiors General) is a worldwide,
canonically approved organization of Superiors General of
Institutes of Catholic Women Religious. Provides an International
Forum where Superiors General can share experiences, exchange
information and mentor one another in their role as leaders.
Encourages dialogue and collaboration among Religious
Congregations
within
the
Church
and
larger
society.
As an International body rooted in the Christ, and representing
Congregations of Women Religious throughout the world, UISG
seeks to witness to and proclaim the identity of apostolic religious
life in all of its diversity. Through weaving global solidarity and
opening new frontiers we animate, support and stimulate leadership
of religious to be a prophetic voice and witness in the Church and
the world.
The mission of the UISG is to build bridges that span distances,
borders and boundaries in order to create ways for members to be
in communication, in community and in communion. The purpose of
UISG is to promote an understanding of religious life.
borders and boundaries in order to create ways for members
to be in communication, in community and in communion.
The purpose of UISG is to promote an understanding of religious life.
www.uisg.org
Talitha Kum is an international network of Consecrated Life against
trafficking in persons. Working as a network facilitates collaboration
and the interchange of information between consecrated men and
women in 70 countries.
Talita Kum was founded in 2009. It arose from the shared desire
to coordinate and strengthen the already existing activities against
trafficking undertaken by consecrated persons in the five continents.
Talita Kum is a network of networks, organized in many different
ways, each promoting initiatives against trafficking in persons in their
particular contexts and cultures.
Talita Kum is an expression that is found in the Gospel of Mark (5,
41). The words, translated from the Aramaic mean “Maiden, I say to
you, arise.” These words are addressed by Jesus to the twelve year
old daughter of Jairus, who lay apparently lifeless. After uttering
these words, Jesus took her by the hand and she immediately got up
and walked.
The expression “Talitha Kum” has the transformative power of
compassion and mercy, which awakens the deep desire for dignity and
life which may be asleep and injured by the many forms of exploitation.
It is a project of the International Union of Superiors General (UISG),
in collaboration with the Union of Superiors General (USG).
www.talithakum.info
LUISG (International Union of Superiors General) is a worldwide,
canonically approved organization of Superiors General of
Institutes of Catholic Women Religious. Provides an International
Forum where Superiors General can share experiences, exchange
information and mentor one another in their role as leaders.
Encourages dialogue and collaboration among Religious
Congregations
within
the
Church
and
larger
society.
As an International body rooted in the Christ, and representing
Congregations of Women Religious throughout the world, UISG
seeks to witness to and proclaim the identity of apostolic religious
life in all of its diversity. Through weaving global solidarity and
opening new frontiers we animate, support and stimulate leadership
of religious to be a prophetic voice and witness in the Church and
the world.
borders and boundaries in order to create ways for members to be
in communication, in community and in communion. The purpose of
UISG is to promote an understanding of religious life.
borders and boundaries in order to create ways for members
to be in communication, in community and in communion.
The purpose of UISG is to promote an understanding of religious life.
www.uisg.org
Talitha Kum
Training Manual
Women Religious Active
for
and
Assisting its Victims
edited by
Stefano Volpicelli
with contributions from
Sr. Gabriella Bottani (SMC)
Sr. Bernadette Sangma (FMA)
Teresa Albano
Roberto Rossi
Rome, January 2016
This manual has been sponsored by the U. S. Embassy
to the Holy See
Edizione Talitha Kum – UISG
www.talithakum.info
www.uisg.org
Cover Photo: Kadir van Lohuizen/NOOR
Layout: Colitti, Roma
2
This book is dedicated to Sr. Bernadette Sagma, FMA,
as we remember her, her smile and her passion for life.
With expertise and tireless efforts against trafficking
in persons, Sr. Bernadette believed in the importance
of networking and wove the threads that led, in
2009, to the official formation of Talitha Kum.
Thanks Sister and friend. We are sure, that plunged
into the eternity of the Love of God, you continue
to pray for us and for all the people exploited
and disfigured by the violence of trafficking
3
Index
Presentation.......................................................................pag. 6
Introduction.......................................................................pag. 8
PART ONE • UNDERSTANDING HUMAN TRAFFICKING.......pag. 13
1. THE STAGE.......................................................................pag. 14
1.1 The Geopolitical Changes Behind The Rise And The
Spread Of Human Trafficking
pag. 14
1.2 The Dimension And Process Of Human Trafficking
pag. 21
1.3 Trafficking And Gender
pag. 23
1.4 Vulnerability Of Victims And Variability Of Traffickers
pag. 25
1.5 The Victim’s Identification
pag. 26
1.6 Trafficking In Conflict Areas
pag. 27
2. THE JURIDICAL FRAMEWORK
pag. 29
2.1 The Definition Of Trafficking According To The “Palermo Protocol”:
Brief Introduction And Genesis
pag. 29
2.2 Analisys Of The Critical Issues In The Protocol
pag. 32
2.3 The Consequences Of The Criticism
pag. 35
3.THE ADDED VALUE OF THE INVOLVEMENT
OF WOMEN RELIGIOUS....................................................pag. 38
PART TWO • METHODOLOGY..................................................pag. 41
Introduction.......................................................................pag. 42
4. Prevention...................................................................pag. 44
4.1 The Theoretical Framework Of Prevention
pag. 44
4.2 Prevention Strategies
pag. 46
4.2.1 Primary Prevention
pag. 47
4.2.2 Secondary Prevention
pag. 48
4.2.3 Tertiary Prevention
pag. 50
4.2.4 Prevention And Social Stigma
pag. 50
5. VICTIMS PROTECTION: BASICS OF HELPING RELATIONSHIPS
EMPOWERMENT AND BURN-OUT.......................................pag. 52
4
Index
Introduction........................................................................pag. 52
5.1 The Helping Relationship
pag. 55
5.1.1 Psychological Profile Of The Survivors
pag. 57
5.1.2 Proposal For An Operational Model
pag. 59
5.2 Empowerment
pag. 67
5.3 Conflict Negotiation In The Helping Relationship
pag. 75
5.4 The “Burn-Out” Syndrome
pag. 79
5.5 Networking: Description Of The Models, Aims And
Added Values
pag. 87
6. The Talitha Kum Network..........................................pag. 95
Bibliography........................................................................pag. 100
Appendix – Test “The Natural Response”.............................pag. 107
5
Presentation
Weaving a web is a skill that you learn while watching, with interest
and attention, the hands of those who carefully weave the threads
and knots, as the canvas grows and takes the desired shape.
Weaving a network is a method of working that favours gestures
and tools that unite, as participants come together, facilitating interaction and encounter. The threads, bound together in a network
become more resistant and are transformed by the process.
This text is the development of the 2004 edition, edited by Stefano
Volpicelli and published by the IOM International Organization for
Migration, as part of the “Training Program for Religious Personnel
Working to Counteract Trafficking in Persons”, developed together
with the US Embassy to the Holy See and funded by the US government. This work has contributed to the formation of Talitha Kum.
In these 11 years, the Network of Consecrated Life Against Trafficking of people has grown and has become a great movement of
religious and lay people committed to the freedom and dignity of
each person. Currently there are 17 regional networks in 70 countries across 5 continents.
Present in different geographic environments, all characterized by
social disadvantage, the Sisters accompany and befriend all who
suffer. It is during this interaction, supported by the skills acquired,
that they are able to recognize and identify the victims of trafficking.
The support of community life and a living spirituality, the combination of prayer with reflection on reality and life, are the elements
that define and differentiate the work of the members of Talitha
Kum.
Stefano Volpicelli, supported by his professional skills as a trainer,
his knowledge of the phenomenon of trafficking, combined with his
6
personal qualities as a caring listener who respects the dignity of the
other, managed to include in this Training Manual of Talitha Kum, the
precious elements of continuity and innovation that reflect the journey of the worldwide network of consecrated life against trafficking
in persons.
The content is enriched by the contributions of the religious members and the collaborators of Talitha Kum, the experience shared
in 30 training courses as well as in local, regional and international
meetings in which the editor of this text participated.
The second part of the manual remains open to contributions from
women religious working in the field, so that they can share their
experience of strategies and outcomes and suggest possible preventative actions in support of trafficked persons. This manual is an
open instrument. It is a first and simple attempt at collective writing, highlighting the great diversity and plurality of Talitha Kum. It
is a dynamic and interactive tool which is fundamental as we continue to weave together our network to combat trafficking in persons
The Talitha Kum Training Manual was possible thanks to the contribution of the US Embassy to the Holy See, which for several years
has been promoting and supporting Talitha Kum.
7
Introduction
This document is intended to serve as one of the instruments for
women religious who are active, or willing to become active, in
counter-trafficking1 efforts associated with preventative activities
and victim assistance.
Human trafficking is a recent variation of the old phenomenon of human exploitation, associated today with the process of globalization
of the world economy. The geopolitical transformations of the last
two decades deeply reshaped both the political and economic balance and favoured the increase of internal and international migration
flows, either voluntary or forced (these last due to armed conflicts
or to natural or man made environmental disasters).
Seeking improved conditions for themselves and their families, or
forced to flee places become dangerous and unsafe, hundreds of
thousands of persons have left their place of living, enticed by the
possibility of finding work in the agricultural, construction or domestic services sectors, growing in all the wealthy areas of the world.
In many cases, however, the promises have not been kept. Rather
than being offered the promised employment with the anticipated
wages, many persons experience forced labor and/or sexual exploitation, often in near-slavery conditions, unable to rebel because of
their illegal status and/or psychological oppression.
Victims of trafficking are obliged to pay an exorbitant amount of
money to the traffickers for their travel, accommodation and job.
Many tolerate such conditions either to keep alive their dream of
improving their circumstances or simply to survive.
This reality forces a reconsideration of the development strategies
and the distribution of wealth in the richest (even in developing
countries) and poorest (a reality also for industrialized or developed
countries) areas of the world, where social and economic inequalities are constantly widening the gap between those who have, and
those who have not. To be precise, a way has to be found to reconcile legitimate economic interests, which often rely heavily on cheap
labor to remain competitive and maintain profitability, with respect
for the human rights and dignity of those who invest in migration in
the hope of improving their living conditions.
Civil society has responded with a series of measures aimed at reducing the risk of all forms of abuse linked to trafficking. Consistent
1
Throughout this document trafficking and counter-trafficking will refer exclusively to
trafficking and counter-trafficking in persons.
8
and strategic implementation of these measures, taking account of
the nuances of the different cultural, national and regional contexts,
will lead to their refinement and improve their efficacy.
In many areas, especially in countries of origin, religious personnel
are the unique resource able to provide continuous social intervention. Providing religious personnel, therefore, with the professional
skills to deal with the many different aspects of the problem is meant
to facilitate coordinated and effective counter-trafficking actions.
Intervention and approaches must be deliberate and constantly reconsidered and updated to ensure that they remain context appropriate. Ensuring that caregivers are provided with the most effective
tools possible contributes to increasing efficacy and supports the religious women who face various risks linked to this particular field.
9
Structure
of the Manual
This document consists of two parts:
-
The first investigates the phenomenological and juridical framework
of human trafficking. In particular it strives to analyse the geopolitical
and economic scenario that have facilitated the diffusion of a true social pathology, based on asymmetrical and distorted human relations
where human exploitation has once again become a shared and tolerated practice. Furthermore it offers a critical analysis of the international laws by highlighting the many incongruences and elements
of weakness, that have so far allowed impunity to the traffickers and
hindered the restoration of the violated rights to the victims.
-
The second part addresses the issue of prevention of the phenomenon and protection of the victims with a networking approach. This
section offers tools, models and examples of good practice. The
efficacy of these has already been tested in ten years of concrete
work on the ground in various cultural contexts. It focuses in particular on networking and includes an account of the circumstances
that led to the birth and diffusion of Talitha Kum – now an operational reality active all over the world.
The contents of this manual aren’t exhaustive, but are aimed at sharing
the holistic, dynamic and complex approach to human trafficking. It is the
authors’ intention that this approach will enable the building of a common
and shared language to facilitate the exchange of experiences and perceptions among religious women living and working in different geographical
territories.
In particular, being aware that any given geographical area has its own
“attitudes” (customs and traditions, languages, habits etc.) the second part
offers the theories behind operational interventions. Each reader is invited
to freely and creatively apply the suggestions included in this document.
10
EDITORIAL NOTE
Use of the terms potential victim, victim, and survivor are consistent
with the various phases of trafficking: before recruitment, during
exploitation, and upon escape, respectively.
When not linked to specific phases of the trafficking process, the
term “trafficked person” has been used
Use of the term “the person assisted” to refer to the potential
victim, the victim, and the survivor, occurs in Chapter 5 which deals
with Helping Relationship.
Moreover, the word victim is used simply for ease of
communication, and in no way suggests frailty or inferiority on the
part of the individual. Indeed, when working with survivors, it is
imperative not to use such terminology.
11
Part I
Understanding
human
trafficking
The Stage
1. THE STAGE
1.1 The Geopolitical Changes Behind The Rise And The Spread
Of Human Trafficking.
Human trafficking, the first globalized social pathology, is the process through which persons are deceived or coerced in moving from
their place of residence to another place where they will be exploited
in servile or slavery like conditions2.
This phenomenon started in the beginning of the 1990s, and even
if it appeared simultaneously everywhere in the world, it gained
attention in the developed countries (especially Europeans) where thousands of girls coming from Eastern European, Asian, South
American and African countries became the main characters in the
sex industry.
In the same years it was also observed that other foreigners
were abducted under exploitation in the productive sectors of
agriculture, manufacturing and construction, involving individuals of both sexes, not necessarily and not only in the developed countries.
Besides the exploitation, these persons, when entered into
contact primarily with social workers and law enforcement officials, shared two main features: they were foreigners and they
were forced to work against their will, through cohercion or
blackmailing.
By the end of the XX century, human trafficking reached global proportions with regional features, namely different tipologies of recruitment, transport and exploitation. Unfortunately the trends throughout the years have continued to show an increasing amount of
trafficked victims, both adults and minors of both sexes, experiencing a variety of forms of exploitation3.
The impressive proliferation of this pathological relationship rooted
2
In the first case the person is kept in exploitation through manipulation or blackmailing
rather than phisical violence, and the exploited person still maintain his free will and, even
if reduced, the capacity to take free decisions. In the second case the person is completely
subjugated.
3
According to the International Labour Organization (ILO) 20.9 millions of adult and
minors worldwide are bought and sold every year and forced into commercial sexual servitude, forced and bonded labour.
14
The Stage
in prevarication, abuse and subjugation can be linked to the transformation occured at the end of the cold war and the consequent
value crisis that deeply altered both attitudes and behaviours of the
world population. As a consequence, today forms of behaviour formerly stigmatized and socially condemned seem to be well accepted
and shared.
A rapid overview of the changes occured
In forty-five years, from the end of the Second World War to
1990, the two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet
Union, each with its own allied countries, struggled to demonstrate the supremacy of their respective systems of welfare and
social security. Besides the economic and military fields, this
ideological war was fought in the trenches of human. People
living under the influence of either of the superpowers largely
benefitted, development led to believe that the serious social
problems that affected the population of both sides would have
been overcome sooner.
It is not by chance that this period, although known as “cold war
era”, reached the highest peak of human rights intellectual production, culminated in the approval of the following two Covenants:
on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights (ICESCR), stemmed from the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948.
In the East the rhetoric of universal equality of individuals, in the
west the rhetoric of universal civil rights and freedoms provided the
ideological basis for sustaining economic and social models oriented
to the modernisation of the societies and the improvement of the
life of the persons.
In the developed countries of the first and second world4 civil rights
were equated with economic and social achievements; welfare state
programs in the western bloc and the policies of full employment
and education for the eastern bloc balanced the unavoidable social
inequalities and discrepancies present in both systems. Third World
countries5 benefitted from financial investment programs as well as
4
The term “first world” refers to the capitalist bloc, “second world” refers to the socialist
bloc.
5
The use of the word Third World in this paragraph reflects the fact that in the 1970s this
noun was used in reference to all the countries excluded by the First and Second Worlds.
Nowadays the term Third World has been dismissed in favour of other more politically
15
The Stage
the provision of know-how and military protection in return for the
exploitation of primary goods.
In this scenario, individuals, although in many territories suffered
from serious conditions of poverty, could still be considered as active members, fully involved in the process of modernization of their
society in order to keep up a decent and safe level of lifestyle.
Decent, because the status of a person was measured through
“being” features: being an active and useful member of the community; being reliable and honest as husband/companion, son, father
and in the interaction with others. This situation supposedly provided a high degree of self-esteem to those without fair economic and
financial resources.
Safe, because in this period individuals who were in difficult economic conditions were supported by welfare systems, which aimed at
maintaining a decent level of life satisfaction, thereby fostering the
quick reinsertion in the productive segment of society and strengthening the sense of belonging to the society. Moreover, the individual’s perception of being at safe was constantly reconfirmed
through military alliances – Warsaw Pact and North Atlantic Treaty
Organization - built by the two superpowers, aimed at protecting all
the countries over which they had strategic influence. Although the
tension between the two blocs manifested by a number of armed
conflicts in peripheral zones such as Korea, Cuba, Vietnam, as well
as the military support given to many guerrilla warfare groups to
regimes in Africa, Asia and South America (Nicaragua, Iran, Angola,
Congo are a few examples of this dynamic) they never seriously
threatened the social fabric.
The geopolitical balance impacted on the movement of persons. In
line with the predominant geopolitical division at the time, international migrants were moving south–north within the boundaries of
the two opposing blocs. With very few exceptions, migrants from
developing countries under Western influence moved to North America, Europe and Oceania. Migrants from countries under a communist regime moved to the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact
countries.
These notes are not reported to celebrate one ideology or the other,
but to underline how the stock of values (together with the social
construct, the vision of the world future, the identities) of a consistent part of the world population were shared in both first, second
correct terms such as developing countries or Global South.
16
The Stage
and third world.
The above stage changed abruptly in 1989, when the second-world
war order collapsed. In the five years following the disaggregation
of the Soviet Union, the world was engaging in a deep geopolitical
and economic rearrangement: countries established as a result of
the First or Second World Wars split up, separatist ethnic movements flourished and lastly conflicts over natural resources fuelled the
displacement of vulnerable people.
Deprived of an alternative model to the liberal Western approach,
the world reoriented its economic policies towards the only system
that survived the contest: formally recognized in 1994 with the Marrakech agreement when the World Trade Organization was established6, the now “global” capitalism envisages:
•
the liberalization of commercial and financial trade,
which postulates the dismantling of the barriers to free
trade, financial markets and goods’ productive chains;
•
the progressive reduction of public welfare mechanisms7 and, more generally, of the state’s intervention in
the economy, since this is considered to be a brake on
the free expression of the market and financial forces;
•
the implementation of structural adjustment programs, which requires countries to open up their markets to foreign firms and eliminate State subsidies.
In the beginning, globalization was welcomed with expectations of
greater prosperity for all; soon this new economic order had also
fostered criticism over inequalities of wealth and the skyrocketing
of employment redundancy worldwide that increased economic instability and social dissolution in many areas of the world, particularly in those areas of the Second and Third World, which have
benefited from the technical and military assistance of the former
superpowers.
In this scenario, many individuals plunged into a generalized state
of ontological insecurity generated in the economic and international
crisis spheres.
6
The Marrakech Declaration of 15 April 1994 of the Uruguay round agreement is considered the date of birth of globalization.
7
See the WTO report following up the Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council
15/25 “The right to development” at www.ohchr.org/documents/issues/development.
17
The Stage
- Economic: almost everywhere the unemployment rate has
skyrocketed, and more and more labourers are today redundant,
without “shock absorbing” welfare provisions, which give protection.
- International crisis: besides traditional armed conflicts requiring
peace support operations8, “raised from 13 between 1948 and 1988,
to 74 from 1989 to date9, insurgent and terrorist groups are multiplying their assault on a worldwide scale.
The sense of insecurity is challenged by another phenomenon linked
to globalization: the increase of the human mobility.
Migration flows, too, were affected by this radical change. The main
change did not occur at quantitative level, however, as it may appear
from a first-glance. In fact, the ratio of migrants to world population
has remained more or less the same since the increasing number
of migrants is matched by the increase in population worldwide10 .
What have changed are the qualitative elements of migration. Today, facilitated by the development of the means of transportation
and the media of communication, the concept of human mobility
juxtaposed the one of migration. The new scenario facilitates the
circular migration where individuals are always in close contact with
their home environment, the movement of women that nowadays
migrate alone (while before women used to follow their families/
husband), and the “mixed flows” made up of migrants with a variety
of protection needs and motivations.
The reaction of countries to the increased complexity in human mobility patterns, subject to the new influencing factors related to globalization, has been progressively defensive. In the last two decades both developed and less developed countries have increasingly
tightened their emigration and immigration policies. Generally, it
has become more and more difficult for would-be migrants to obtain
the proper documentation requested for moving, such as exit and
entry visas, passports and so on.
8
The term Peace Support Operation (PSO) is widely used to describe multifunctional operations in which impartial military activities are designed to create a secure environment
and to facilitate the efforts of the mission’s civilian elements to create a self-sustaining
peace..
9
For a detailed overview of the peacekeeping operations refer to www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/operations/
10
The global stock of international migrants increased by 50% from 156 million in 1990 to
231 million in 2013. This represents 3% of the world’s population in 2013 and the migrant
share of the global population has remained stable at 3% over the past several decades.
Source: The migration observatory at University of Oxford (UK).
18
The Stage
The result is that currently a large sector of international migration
takes place outside the law and in the absence of legal safeguards.
The above changes left its mark on individuals.
Suddenly the dominant values towards which past generations worldwide were inclined, such as material and intellectual honesty, loyalty, tolerance, solidarity, civic sense and courtesy, became obsolete
and represented a true unconventional attitude.
People today, especially the younger generation, are targeted by
mass media that constantly promote a (homogeneous) lifestyle in
line with the values promoted by the liberal market economy, which
is largely based on consumption and reminds us this is an ideal to
which we should all aspire.
The value of a person is nowadays measured in materialistic rather
than in ethical terms11. Greater importance has been placed on the
quality of homes we live in, the models of cars we drive, and the
disposable money we have, rather than our honesty, reliability, and
contribution to the community.
In this struggle to reach a better status, persons striving to achieve
the means “to have”, and therefore “to be”, clash with the others
that already “have”. The latters live in constant fear of loosing their
belongings and status and are confronted by an army of people coming from the periphery of the world ready to sacrifice everything
in order to get the same they have, in a world that has become too
small for everyone.
This conflict is seemingly renewing the old Latin proverb homo homini lupus (a man is a wolf to another man) and actualises the following words:
“Men are not gentle creatures, who want to be loved, who at the
most can defend themselves if they are attacked; they are, on the
contrary, creatures among whose instinctual endowments is to be
reckoned a powerful share of aggressiveness. As a result, their neighbour is for them not only a potential helper or sexual object, but
also someone who tempts them to satisfy their aggressiveness on
him, to exploit his capacity for work without compensation, to use
him sexually without his consent, to seize his possessions, to humiliate him, to cause him pain, to torture and to kill him” (Freud 1930).
In the course of history individuals have always oscillated between
11
Some authors have studied this value change. Among others, Swadzba (2011) and
Yusuf (2008) analysed the impact of globalization on culture and value system in Poland
and Nigeria respectively.
19
The Stage
two opposite behaviours - to act fairly and generously towards the
others or to endorse exploitation as a means to survive. But the
term “human development” has always had a positive meaning, and
has guided the world population towards better and fair behaviour.
The news brought by globalization is that today behaviour previously socially condemned (as slavery and exploitation) are not negatively stigmatized and criticized by the majority of society. It seems
that people today are dangerously influenced by the following constitutive elements:
1. The change in the perception of the others: in a competition, the
others are not anymore perceived as fellows, they represent the
opposite, a possible obstacle on the way to victory (emancipation).
2. The ranking of the citizens: persons today are not equal, but they
are valued differently according to their status, not always based
on the single merit. This is what Pope Francis call “practical relativism, which drives one person to take advantage of another,
to treat others as mere objects, imposing forced labour on them
or enslaving them to pay their debts” (Pope Francis 2015, 123).
This is the use-and-throw-away logic intrinsically connected to
the generation of waste, of both objects and humans.
3. The subscription of the “have nots” to the logic of exploitation:
this is a discriminating element between slavery and new forms
of exploitation: today the exploited are conscious of their situation, but rarely complain, because they “surrender to the verdict
of their inferiority” (Baumann 2004; 53), aware that in order to
achieve the own goals they have to be resilient.
Following these observations, the origin and proliferation of human
trafficking finds an explanation in this deep transformation of the
fundamental values in the society, promoting a new ethic of abuse
where the exploitation of the vulnerable and of asymmetry in relationships (Hall 1985) is not (anymore) considered a pathological
behaviour of a few outsiders, or a behaviour negatively stigmatized
and therefore socially condemned, but today is well accepted and
shared.
It is accepted, because it is seen as a legitimate tool to survive in
a world turned suddenly hostile and insecure. It is shared, because
the subjugated endorse this relationship model which in many cases
replicates if under positive asymmetric conditions.
Human trafficking is not only related to the gender-based problem
(the prevarication and abusive behaviours of male over female)
20
The Stage
involving vulnerable and marginalized migrant women (especially
young and naïve) as initially framed by social and religious workers,
policy makers, legal experts and law enforcement agents.
In reality, human trafficking is much more. It can be considered an
indicator, or a litmus test of human relationships (civil, politic, economic, cultural and social) in the age of globalization.
1.2 The Dimension And Process Of Human Trafficking.
Trafficking can be considered as an adaptation to the macroeconomic gaps, which characterize globalization. For instance, conditions
in countries of origin that create an uneven distribution of wealth,
lack of opportunity accompanied by high unemployment push individuals to areas where there is demand for their labour.
These push factors conspire to create an atmosphere that lowers
the prospective migrants' defenses, making them overlook potential
risks, seeing only the possibility for improving their circumstances
and taking care of their family. Traffickers, mindful of market mechanisms and the local social climate, seize the occasion to respond to
Northern demand with seemingly unlimited supply from the South.
The chameleontic nature of the phenomenon conceals its magnitude
since precise figures are impossible to obtain. Trafficking profiles
are blurred with the ones of irregular or smuggled migrants, foreign
workers employed in slavery-like conditions, women involved in the
sex market or fake marriages, and the list could continue. All these
characters can conceal a trafficked person. What is unmistakable is
that trafficking is a global phenomenon adapting to the initiatives of
both Governmental Institutions and civil society, difficult to quantify.
Quoting statistics or estimations is useless since they fluctuate according to the mission of each Institution involved. To say, the International Organization of Migration will estimate the number of
trafficked persons on the global stock of migrants, while the High
Commissioner for Refugee (UNHCR) will do the same considering
the stock of refugees, the ILO will calculate its estimations on the
stock of exploited workers and so on.
Even the exercise of drawing the routes has become obsolete. The
main reason is that through the years the profiles of the victims
have multiplied and in the same geographical area we can find victims of trafficking coming from many places, either from within the
21
The Stage
same country or from abroad.
Recruitment schemes include the following:
•
False job offer in agencies,
•
Offers of work of or study opportunities from family
members or friends
•
Kidnapping, (coerced recruitment),
•
Abuse of authority (sale of children to other individuals).
Even though the four modes of recruitment occur worldwide, each
country has its own social climate that favors one over the others.
Recurrence depends on the skill of the recruiters and on the quality
of the networks they develop.
In many countries the threath is hidden behind announcements
supposedly advertising opportunities in employment agencies. Sometimes these agencies are entirely fictitious. Sometimes they are
legitimate but employ corrupt staff with ties to traffickers. The advertisements are credible, they lure the potential victims with job
offers as unskilled workers in farms or factories, waiters in restaurants or hotels, nannies, maid etc. The sinister reality of seemingly
credible announcements luring the potential migrant with promises
of work in hotels, restaurants, and families, is only revealed after
the migrant arrives in the country of destination, when they are no
longer in a position to seek recourse to justice.
In other countries recruitment is undertaken in person, usually by
family friends or relatives. Deception is veiled behind a generous
opportunity (travel for education, employment) from a trusted family member unlikely to raise suspicion. The recruiter may or may
not know the extent of the misery that awaits the potential victim,
but is cognizant of the deception.
Offers used to entice potential victims are (in order of frequency):
Both sexes:
•
Employment
•
Study
22
The Stage
Especially for women:
•
Entertainment (dancers, escorts etc.)
•
Escort for business trip
•
Marriage
In general, upon arrival in countries of destination or transit, the following are ways in which victims are exploited: (frequency depends
on the country):
Both sexes:
•
Field, factory or domestic work;
•
Begging;
•
Petty crimes (Theft, pickpocketing, drug smuggling
etc.)
Women:
•
Sexual exploitation (all practices);
•
Nanny;
•
Nurse;
•
Waitress;
1.3 Trafficking And Gender.
In developed countries the shrinking of worker’s rights along with
the decline of the measures for social protection have influenced the
participation of women in the labor force. Since the 1970s women
having been entering the global labor force in record numbers, yet
at comparatively lower wages and higher unemployment rates (of
women wishing to work) mean that they still represent 60% of the
world’s working poor
In both hemispheres women’s entry into the labor market has generated marked social change, undermining traditional roles that
outwardly served to fortify social/familial stability. Traditionally
23
The Stage
expected to look after domestic concerns and take care of vulnerable family members (children, elderly, the ill), presently women
have less time to dedicate to the daily demands of nurturing and
caring for the family. Consequently, a relatively new pull-factor has
emerged in the North: a soaring demand for inexpensive domestic
workers. Seeking to provide for their families, many women from
the South have responded the demand for domestic work, often
leaving behind their own children in the care of female relatives or
friends12. A result of the absence of effective caregivers is the weakening of the social fabric in developing/transition countries and the
breakdown of the fundamental importance of the family.
In the past, male immigrants could find work in sectors local men
found unattractive such as agriculture, factory and construction
work. Now, immigrant women have an easier time securing work
in societies with an increased demand but short supply of domestic
workers. Thus, the global neighborhood has indeed shrunken and
even on the individual level our interdependence becomes clearer.
Outdated notions of leaving the kids with grandparents, aunts and
friends (most of whom also work outside the home) have been replaced by calling the convenient immigrant.
Obstacles on the Road to full emancipation.
Nevertheless, the explosive growth of women in the work force clearly does not translate to true socio-economic empowerment of women. The consequences of these changes on gender relationships
both in developing and developed countries are challenging. In the
countries of origin, women find themselves replacing men as financial providers, thus striking a blow to notions of male identity. Incidence of abuse has increased, perhaps as a result of men searching
for an expression of their masculinity. Since men have used violence
throughout history to reaffirm their masculinity, one hypothesis suggests trafficking can be viewed as a way to substantiate the primacy
of men over women.
Gender relationships have changed in both hemispheres. Gender
stereotypes suggest that women are uniquely suited to look after
the family, yet experience shows that women are either financially
pushed or genuinely interested in entering the labor force.
Further, cultural norms are slow to catch up with the economic reality of women working outside the home, illustrated by global lack
12
See Rhacel Salazar Parrenas, “Human Sacrifices. What happens when women migrate
and leave families behind?” The Women’s Review of Books, Feb. 2002, 19:5 p. 16.
24
The Stage
of male interest in fulfilling the domestic chores and care giving in
their own homes. Consequently, primarily in the South but also in
the North, when women spend long hours or months (in the case of
women from the South) away from the home, the quality of family
life often plunges even if it is able to reap financial benefits.
Hypothetically speaking, increase in demand for prostitution may
be linked to the male search for an asymmetrical relationship allowing him to be the dominant, ruling element of the relationship.
By paying for the experience, he is also able to provide financial assistance to the woman. In this case the immigrant woman is called
upon to deliver yet another service.
1.4 Vulnerability Of Victims And Variability Of Traffickers.
Victims of trafficking differ from other people under exploitation because they are in this conditions against their will. This situation
depends on a combination of elements of vulnerability, both objective and subjective, attached to individual biography and cannot be
automatically referred to “categories” of persons.
Often there is the temptation to consider as victims only those coming from poor or deprivated environments, either economically or
morally, but the reality, if carefully observed, speaks differently. In
the trafficking trap we can find naïve and clever persons, ignorant
and skilled… no one is safe. It is useless to simplify when among the
victims can be found:
- skilled workers sent to isolated industrial sites by employment
agencies;
- women with sound and balanced affective relationships (with a
beloved husband, grown up children) that decide to emigrate to find
a job as nanny or maid and help the relatives at home;
- girls whose only fault is in having believed the fake promises of
work agencies or of marriage;
- minors moved by curiosity and willing to test their competence;
and hundred of thousands of different stories, each one with their
own elements of uniqueness.
It is important to underline this concept, because in the past there
was the tendency to put the victims in different categories on the
basis of geographical provenience and/or different degrees of responsibility. Drawing the line between the true innocent and those
25
The Stage
that “deserved what happened to them”.
This tendency to classify is well known in psychology, because it’s
a tool of self defense against the sad reality that exploitation and
prevarication are so widespread. Because if the victims of trafficking
have individual and “normal” features, not necessary belonging
to profiles of social marginalization or exclusion, the perception of
being involved in the struggle against a huge problem can become
frustrating.
The same is true of traffickers. Experience has taught that traffickers and exploiters are not necessarily evil or vicious persons,
grown up in a traumatic environment.
Some rings of the trafficking chain are made up of competent people, often with managerial or logistic skills, not aware of what will
happen to the persons they are recruiting because they are honestly
convinced that they are doing good and are not involved in a criminal organization.
The same for the exploiters. The majority of them are not vicious
or wicked persons, but just people in distress, economically or sentimentally, looking for a wrong way to get out of the situation.
Of course among them there are pathological criminal and wicked
personalities, but considering all traffickers and exploiters as such
would be misleading.
1.5 The Problem With Victims' Identification
As already underlined trafficking is an ever changing and multifaceted phenomenon. Modus operandi of criminal organizations, routes
and ways of exploitation are changing according to the local context
and the persons involved. At the same time also the counteracting
strategies, to which the traffickers adapt theirs, are different in each
geographical area.
Although many acts carried out or endured by a victim during the
trafficking experience are already penally or administratively sanctioned in many countries (use of forged documents, facilitation of
irregular entry of a person, irregular work, prostitution, begging,
etc.), it is the combination with other elements - fraud and the deceptive or coerced movement in a place different from the one where the victim lives - that shapes trafficking differently from the previous crimes.
26
The Stage
At the same time the composite nature of human trafficking make
this phenomenon difficult to detect, since it can easily be mismatched with many other crimes as irregular migration, irregular work,
sexual abuses, marriages of convenience, petty crimes, pickpocketing, begging and so on.
Through the years the stereotypes and prejudices attached to trafficking from the very beginning (mainly for the association with prostitution) have hindered the fast and correct identification of the
victims and consequently their protection and assistance. Indeed,
the victims are often mismatched with the traffickers. This lack of
detection facilitates the impunity of traffickers thus increasing their
profits.
Without a careful analysis of the violation suffered by a person and
the consequent suspension of stereotypes and prejudices, trafficking becomes legally undetectable from the crimes in which it is
embedded. Human trafficking doesn’t exist per se, but it displays
itself through other crimes.
Furthermore, all the above must be matched with the dynamic feature of human trafficking, which process is divided in three phases,
only the last one of which includes the exploitation. For this reason
only the trafficked person has the complete picture of what has
experienced. The task of the helper, women religious included, is to
overcome the understandable distrust of a victim and reach, with
the techniques described in the second part of this document, to a
full kowledge of the situation.
1.6 Trafficking In Conflict Areas.
One consequence of globalization is the increase in armed conflicts
in many areas of the world. These situations represent an ideal environment for trafficking to flourish, since a theatre of operations – featuring insufficient rule of law due to the lack of stable and efficient
institutions - can give rise to highly profitable activity by criminal
organisations.
It can be affirmed that human trafficking is an inevitable feature in
all the conflicts zone both during and after the fighting (when the
situation is stabilized through the intervention of peacekeepers).
Because it’s a place where recruiting future victims such as persons
willing to flee the place in search of security or exploiting foreign
27
The Stage
labourers recruited in another geographical area is easy. Therefore
a conflict area can be a place of origin, transit and destination at
the same time. Traffickers can take advantage of the following situations:
- Conflict area as a place of exploitation: in the reconstruction of the
structures damaged during the conflict as well as in additional services required by the international presence (domestic work, casual
labor services, etc.), including adult entertainment;
- Conflict area as place of transit: given the characteristics of a crisis zone, the PSO can become a stopover place for storing “goods”
(VOTs included) prior to their onward transportation to other destinations;
- Conflict area as a place of origin: local population, willing or forced
to leave for security reasons or to improve their living conditions,
can benefit from the “services” of the traffickers, who facilitate movement with promises of a good placement abroad or in another,
safer area of the country
In this context, legality and illegality can intermingle in various
ways: an apparently legal activity – the reconstruction of a site –
can hide illegal acts such as the exploitation of foreign workforce,
with trafficked persons used as workers; another example can be
a night club attended by peacekeepers, where girls working as entertainers are kept under surveillance by a criminal organization.
28
The Juridical Framework
2.The Juridical Framework
2.1 The Definition Of Trafficking According To The “Palermo
Protocol”: Brief Introduction And Genesis
It’s in this scenario, where the unfair distribution of the Countries
wealth increases, where millions of people are found overnight without a job that trafficking appears. Until the mid-1990s, this phenomenon was viewed as a form of human smuggling and a type of
illegal migration. In those years a growing number of foreign workers were found in forced labour1, "slavery"2 or slavery-like conditions in mines, sweatshops, agricultural fields, and the sex industry.
This latter field, mainly involving women and minors of both sexes,
attracted the attention of the international community.
The distortion in the framing of human trafficking started in 1995,
during the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing, where the Platform for Action adopted the call “to eliminate trafficking
in women and assist victims of violence due to prostitution and trafficking”.
Since then, human trafficking became a woman-centred affair,
establishing the link between trafficking and prostitution that is still
fostering stereotypes and confusion.
In 1998, following the recommendation of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, and of the Economic and Social
Council, the General Assembly established an intergovernmental ad
hoc committee for the purpose of drafting a comprehensive international convention against transnational organized crime with three
supplementary protocols (General Assembly Resolution 53/111,
Dec. 9, 1998). In the Committee two blocs of NGOs were particularly active in the negotiations talks:
• the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women International (CATW),
along with the Movement for the Abolition of Pornography and
1
“The term forced or compulsory labour shall mean all work or service which is exacted
from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not
offered himself voluntarily” (art.2, paragraph 1, ILO Convention n.29/1930)
2
The status or condition of a person over whom any or all the powers attaching to the
right of ownership are exercised (Art. 1, Slavery Convention, 1926 as amended by 1953
Protocol). Slavery is identified by an element of ownership or control over another’s life,
coercion and the restriction of movement and by the fact that someone is not free to leave
or to change employer (e.g. traditional chattel slavery, bonded labour, serfdom, forced
labour and slavery for ritual or religious purposes).
29
Prostitution (MAPP), Equality Now, the European Women’s Lobby (EWL), the Association des Femmes de l’Europe Meridionale
(AFEM), Article One, France, United States on one side and
• the Human Rights Caucus, composed of: International Human Rights Law Group (IHRLG, US), Global Alliance Against Trafficking
in Women (GAATW, Thailand), Foundation Against Trafficking in
Women (STV, the Netherlands), Asian Women’s Human Rights
Council (AWHRC, Philippines, India), La Strada (Poland, Ukraine,
Czech Republic), Fundacion Esperanza (Colombia, Netherlands,
Spain), Ban-Ying (Germany), Foundation for Women (Thailand),
KOK-NGO Network Against Trafficking in Women (Germany),
Women’s Consortium of Nigeria, Women, Law and Development
in Africa (Nigeria)
on the other played a pivotal role in the evolution of the trafficking
protocol.
Given the nature of the organizations involved, the discourse focussed on the reality of prostitution, where abolitionist groups and
NGOs supporting prostitution as work, engaged in a harsh discussion on the boundaries of the free will of women involved in prostitution, rekindling the debate that began with the United Nations
Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the
Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others adopted in 1949 and came
into force in 1951 (but ratified by only 66 countries).
Trafficking was considered by the abolitionist group as a new opportunity to launch an international campaign for the penalisation of
prostitution.
As a result, the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking
in Persons, Especially Women and Children3 (also known as trafficking protocol), defines trafficking as
the
recruitment,
transportation,
transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons,
by means of the threat or use of force or
other forms of coercion, of abduction, of
fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power
or of a position of vulnerability or of the
giving or receiving of payments or benefits
3
One of the three Protocols (the other two are the Protocol against the Smuggling of
Migrants by Land, Sea and Air and the Protocol against the Illicit Manufacturing of and
Trafficking in Firearms) adopted by the United Nations in the framework of the Convention
against Transnational Organized Crime.
30
to achieve the consent of a person having
control over another person, for the
purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall
include, at a minimum, the exploitation of
the prostitution of others or other forms
of sexual exploitation, forced labour or
services, slavery or practices similar to
slavery, servitude or the removal of organs
… the consent of a victim of trafficking in
persons to the intended exploitation set
forth [above] shall be irrelevant where
any of the means [above] were used.
Passing on to the next paragraph the juridical considerations on the
confusion brought by the UN definition, what deserves to be underlined is the overlooking of other dimensions of human trafficking such
as the labour exploitation of men and women alike. In the trafficking
narration the phenomen is reduced to a stereotypical constructions
of femininity and masculinity, translated in victims and perpetrators.
This stereotypical construction of the characters involved has produced a double discrimination: of the women exploited in any setting
but prostitution and of the men exploited in the informal sectors of
the progressively de-regularized economy of globalization.
The counteracting actions have followed the stereotype, as did also
the majority of the billions of dollars worth of funding that has been
dedicated to the protection of women victims of sexual exploitation
as well as law enforcement and awareness programs.
In the absence of any positive impact of these project costing billions of dollars4, the exploitation of the labour force, male and female, adult or juvenile, has skyrocketed5.
Notwithstanding the fifteen years from the protocol adoption, and the
twelve since its entry into force6, all the efforts made, and billions of
US dollars spent, to prevent the scourge, prosecute the perpetrators
and protect the victims, haven’t been successful, as trends throughout
the years have continued to show an increasing amount of trafficked
victims. This is primarily due to a juridical instrument, the Protocol that
4
An attempt to monitor the impact of the funds granted for intervention of prevention,
prosecution and protection is available on the antitrafficking review, global funding information sheet, July 2014.
5
See ILO and USTIP estimations
6
25th December 2003.
31
has emphasized the trafficking definition on the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, instead of the exploitation of individuals, which has therefore inaccurately grasped the true
nature of trafficking as a socioeconomic phenomenon.
2.2 Analysis Of The Critical Issues In The Protocol.
The many criticisms of the Protocol start with the very title of the
document - Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking
in Persons, Especially Women and Children - by underlining two,
supposedly principal targets of traffickers – women and children reflects the object of the negotiations: does trafficking involve also
men or does it pertain exclusively to the realm of “women’s issues”
(both adult and minors)?
Switching to the definition, the following aspects are worthy of notice:
-
The actus reus, the substance of the crime. A careful reading of
the text leads to the conclusion that the unlawful activities to be
prosecuted are the unconsensual recruitment, transportation,
transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons.
Indeed these activities, which are licit per se, become
wrongful when carried out against the free will of the individual.
So, the definition doesn’t put the exploitation at the centre of
the inquisition.
Forced labour, slavery or servitude – the exploitation of the
individual - are not the actus reus, the “wrong” of the trafficking
phenomenon elicited in the definition. The exploitation of the
individual remains more at the “horizon” of a number of other
activities.
The main focus of the definition is, in fact, centred on
unconsensual preparatory actions which are accomplished with
the intention to exploit the person.
These unlawful activities are those generally related to
the migratory movement of the individual from one place
to another7 (recruitment, transfer, transportation, receipt,
7
We differ in the interpretation of the definition of trafficking from the approach pursued
32
harbouring), and particularly to cross-border movement.
In this case, the interest of the abolitionist support group,
aiming at defining trafficking by the inherently unlawful nature
of the work involved - prostitution – and the interest of States,
aiming at opposing migration, converged in shaping the
substance of the criminal behaviour around “unconsensual”
migratory movement”. Indeed, this is not a new practice.
Already in 1912 Greece fought ‘white slavery’ by passing
legislation forbidding women under 21 to travel abroad without
a special permit8.
-
The purpose of trafficking. A highly emotional discussion arose
with reference to the purpose of trafficking and in particular with
regard to the inclusion of “the exploitation of the prostitution
of others” and “sexual exploitation” among the purposes of the
criminal activities – the unconsensual movement - defined as
trafficking.
These terms are indeed not only imprecise but also
undefined and would recall the words of the 1949 Convention
for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the
Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others which, although not
entered into force, included in its definition both voluntary and
involuntary prostitution. Such inclusion would undermine the
consensus of adult individuals engaged voluntarily in providing
sexual services.
The proposal to concentrate on forced and/or bonded labour
and servitude, which includes also forced provision of sexual
services, supported by the High Commissioner for Human
Rights, the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, the
International Labour Organisation, as well as countries with
by some countries for which the movement is not an essential element of trafficking.
Not only does this approach negates systemic interpretation in the light of the fact
that the Protocol supplements the Convention on Transnational Organized Crime, but
also contradicts the interpretation that would allow to distinguish trafficking from other
neighboring phenomena, such as forced labour and slavery, increasing the entropy of
differing interpretations to the same definition of trafficking with evident detrimental
effects on this latter one, according to the wording of the Protocol..
8
J. Doezema, Who gets to choose? Coercion, consent and the UN Trafficking Protocol,
Gender and Development, Vol. 10, 2002.
33
regulatory and decriminalising policies on prostitution, like The
Netherlands and Germany, was rejected.
The Travaux Preparatoires should indicate that the Protocol
addresses the exploitation of the prostitution of others and
other forms of sexual exploitation only in the context of
trafficking in persons.
The terms ‘exploitation of the prostitution of others’ or
‘other forms of sexual exploitation’ are not defined in the
Protocol, which is therefore without prejudice to how States
Parties address prostitution in their respective domestic laws.
-
The issue of consent. The definition of the purpose of trafficking
– exploitation as the ultimate intention of unconsensual
movement – is then completed by the subparagraph (b) where
the issue of consent is evoked again, for the second time in the
article:
(b) The consent of a victim of trafficking in persons to the
intended exploitation set forth in subparagraph (a) of this
article shall be irrelevant where any of the means set forth in
subparagraph (a) have been used
It is clarified that the individual’s consent is irrelevant where
the coercive means used to move the potential trafficked person
– still “potential” at that moment, at least until the exploitation
takes place - are also used to exploit the person, once the crime
is finally consumed, and the trafficked person can be identified
as a de facto victim, as a person suffering explotative practices.
Subparagraph (b) underlines that exploitation must be
imposed through coercive means, as well.
As a consequence, according to the wording of the definition,
the lack of the individual’s consensus must be proved in two
different stages of the trafficking process: when the transfer of
the potential victim takes place, and when the exploitation is
exercised over the de facto victim, most often after the transfer.
34
2.3 The Consequences Of Criticism
The above wording of the definition and the related aspects bear
significant consequences in pursuing the openly stated objectives
of the Protocol: to prevent and combat trafficking, by prosecuting
the traffickers; to protect and assist the victims, after their identification; and to promote co-operation among States Parties, by supporting partnership among relevant and appropriate stakeholders.
The often-heard 4Ps-approach: Prosecution, Prevention, Protection
and Partnership. At the beginning the Protocol included only the first
three P; following an initiative of the U.S.A. the fourth P has been
inserted, to facilitate the coordination among different countries.
Being a criminal justice instrument supplementing the UN Convention on Transnational Organized Crime, the primary objective of the
Protocol is to prosecute trafficking as a form of organised crime. It
is therefore natural to wonder what is the object of the prosecution,
what is the criminal behaviour to be tackled.
Although scholarly literature identifies the individual’s exploitation
as the distinguishing feature between human trafficking and migrant smuggling, according to a rigorous reading of the wording of
the definition it is difficult to say “exploitation” as a straightforward
answer.
This nebulous definition, caught in between contrasting views and
interests, leaves too much room to divergent interpretations. Indeed, the unlawful activities described in the definition are those
comprising a “non-consensual movement” for which victims bear a
heavy burden of the proof. It is their responsibility, in fact, to prove
that the recruitment and the journey took place as a consequence
of deception or force.
But it is also the victims’ responsibility to prove that the conditions
of work – the ultimate purpose of the non-consensual movement
- were exploitative against their will, as if the individual’s consent
to be subjected to forced labour could legitimise – and possibly “legalise” - such an abuse of a person over another person!9 In this
confusion, the victim can be easily confused with the perpetrator or
perceived, at a minimum, as an accomplice.
As far as the Protocol’s second objective is concerned – Prevention - four out of the five articles devoted to the issue, from 9 to
9
Cfr. G. Yun, Concealed Chains: Labour exploitation and Chinese migrants in Europe, ILO
• ISBN 978-92-2-121993-4
35
13, make reference to measures dealing with immigration control.
Indeed this is in line with the trafficking definition as outlined before, focused on non-consensual movement of persons. Other prevention aspects different from immigration and border control are
included in article 9.
After mentioning information campaigns and research among prevention measures, the article makes reference to the factors that
make persons vulnerable to trafficking-poverty, underdevelopment
and gender inequality-to be addressed through social and economic
initiatives. Although only indicative, this list of vulnerability factors
reflects, however, a simplistic view of the trafficking phenomenon
and a possible (un)intentional overlook of the detrimental impact of
restrictive State migration policies on trafficking.
The parts of the Palermo Protocol devoted to assistance and protection of trafficked persons, what should have been the backbone
of this often-referred-to as an international human rights’ instrument, are particularly disappointing.
Whereas the Protocol contains strong law enforcement provisions,
its few protection and assistance measures are all discretionary for
States Parties. Although many governments recognized the value of
victims as witnesses, deserving protection during the trial, they neverthless wished to preserve their prerogative to deport them after
the trial or even to prosecute them for the unlawful acts committed
as a consequence of being trafficked.
Meaningfully, while the Smuggling Protocol contains a clear clause
for the non-criminal liability of migrants for the fact of being smuggled (art. 5), a similar provision has not been included in the Trafficking Protocol.
It is therefore coherent the fact that Partnerships in the field of human trafficking are built primarily with immigration authorities and
criminal justice actors, too often leaving labour institutions out of
the equation.
All the above considerations do not support the Protocol at all, because after more than ten years from its entry into force, nothing
has really changed in terms of curbing the phenomenon, reducing
the number of victims and improving the protection of the victims.
Probably all the critical issues analysed here must be weighted considering that in a very confusing historical moment, the exploitative
dynamics, massive and pervasive worldwide weren’t as visible as
they are today.
36
In conclusion, it is time for a major amendment of the Protocol,
following the experience of countries that, in transposing the Protocol in the national law, have balanced definition and measures
of intervention. This is the case of Belgium where the definition
of trafficking was built around the concept of “working conditions
contrary to human dignity”, which include also sex work. In other
words, those persons who are identified by law enforcement officials
as being kept in working conditions contrary to human dignity – to
be proved through a number of factual evidences, both subjective
and objective – are recognized and protected as trafficked persons.
If these victims have been, in addition, moved through coercive
means in order to be subjugated in inhuman working situations, this
aggravates the position of the perpetrator and the penal consequences in case of conviction.
37
The Added Value
3.The Added Value Of The
Involvement
Of
Women
Religious
Women religious are in a privileged position to understand the complex social, economic, cultural and political dynamics generated by
globalization in communities affected by inequalities and marginalization, where an increasing number of people live in conditions of
real or relative material or immaterial poverty, sometimes extreme.
The privilege consists in sharing the everyday life of the people, an
aspect that gives them both capacity to read and understand the
individual and social dynamics of the communities they live in and
to provide people with a charismatic vision of a lifestyle based on
solidarity and care for the others, a vision fiercely opposing the one
encouraging exploitation.
Women religious are particularly skilled in countering trafficking because the trafficking is a dis-integrating experience, that separates
the persons from their own inner self, from their emotional world,
projecting them into a world where their identity and psycho-physical integrity are threathened.
Women religious, by their mere presence, represent a metaphorical place where the borders between sacred (a satisfying life) and
profane (the fake reality of trafficking) are well marked. They are a
steady and permanent point, a presence helping others to orientate
themselves in the chaos of life.
This metaphor adapts well to the issue of trafficking, a phenomenon
with many facets, where it is difficult to draw a line between what
is good and what is wrong, being the place of appearances, where
nothing is what it appears and for this reason involves persons in a
continuous process of dis-integration.
The role of religious personnel translates into a spiritual and educational commitment on three levels: individual, community and social.
At individual level women religous help the assisted persons to put
together the pieces of their biography to restore a sense of the present; to identify new values and reconstruct a new existence where
the old one has been torn away, damaged by the experience of
38
The Added Value
exploitation; to foster new hope and help individuals regaining their
human dignity. In this sense the work of women religious is not to
provide a solution but help the persons in the condition to find their
own solutions to their problems.
At community level, religious personnel mediate between the legitimate aspiration of the members and the often harsh realities of
daily life. They give the concrete example of a rich, full and satisfactory life beyond the material aspects, giving value to relationships
of solidarity. Whereas a community is festered by trafficking, Sisters mend the breach, bringing the victim back into the community,
working to remove the stigma and marginality.
At the social level, women religious are “spokepersons” through
which the reality of trafficking in the communities can be communicated in a wider context raising awareness to local institutions and
international agencies, improving, prevention policies and victims
assistance.
Women religious are natural counselors, a critical competence in
any intervention of protection, support and reintegration of persons
that have experienced trafficking. But they are not only psycho-social practitioners, the added value of their work lies in the spiritual
dimension, a place where the persons in distress – even those who
are not believers - can find a true sense of restoration and balance
without the need of words.
This feature puts women religious in a privileged position in respect
to the other practitioners active in the helping relationship.
39
Part II
Methodologies
Introduction
An effective intervention in the complex dynamics of trafficking, affecting in various ways individuals, communities and countries, as
well as legal, economic and social institutions, both at local and international level, is possible, as long as a clear distinction is made
between the characters of the victim, the trafficker and the simple,
unwitting facilitator.
As we have seen in the first part, in trafficking, this clarity is anything
but evident, as it is a chameleonic phenomenon quite difficult to frame. Unfortunately, without this clarity it is virtually impossible to set
up sound strategies to raise the awareness of the people, to help the
victims and to prosecute the traffickers.
As a consequence, after twenty years, still too many victims have to
struggle against the stereotypes and the prejudices, the deaf politicians and officials of both governmental and international agencies,
in order to be acknowledged as victims and not accomplices, in order to have their violated rights restored. In too many countries the
shame of temporary social rehabilitation programs – usually limited
to the conviction of the traffickers - are implemented, after which
the person is unceremoniously deported back to the place of origin.
The majority of funds are spent in awareness-raising programs for
judges, law enforcement agents, border and diplomatic officers, in
the absence of a shared juridical framework, which would illustrate a serious political commitment, promoting investigations, trials
and sentences to curb the phenomena. As a phenomenon, affected
by the global human mobility today, trafficking has challenged the
institutions of civil society emphasizing both conceptual and operational shortage.
Many people have benefitted from the victim support interventions
carried out, but statistics are merciless. While estimates of potential
victims are updated upward, the number of victims that have seen
their rights restored is preposterous. The majority of victims are left
alone to look for solutions during and after the exploitation in the
almost total indifference of the institutions.
Women religious have carved out their own space of intervention,
ensuring a constant and humble presence alongside those who have
suffered the shame of the devaluation of the self and of their body,
reduced to a commodity by unscrupulous individuals.
This commitment is pursued with diligence and persistence, focu-
42
sed on the persons and their needs rather than worrying about the
social superstructure (laws, policies etc.). It displays a curious and
inquisitive attitude, the availability to test new paths and, in some
cases, a questioning of its own dogma.
The following sections are devoted to activities of prevention and
protection, pursued in a systematic and logical manner, where the
theories are supported by practical examples and the latter confirmed by the successful experience of many women religious in the
world.
43
Prevention
4.Prevention
4.1 The Theoretical Framework Of Prevention
In medicine, the purpose of preventative activities is either to avoid
contact between an unpleasant physical affliction and a target population, or, the exacerbation or spreading of the affliction once contracted.
Because the objectives of prevention are dynamic, changing according
to the stage (diffusion) of the problem (pathology), prevention can be
divided into three phases: primary, secondary and tertiary.
• The aim of primary prevention is avoiding contact with an undesirable event.
• Once this happens and the person has contracted the disease secondary prevention seeks to control its evolution while maintaining the body in stable condition (avoid deterioration of the
situation).
• Tertiary prevention aims at controlling the spread of the pathology and also at avoiding serious problems that could diminish the
overall health status of the patient.
Although trafficking is a socio-economic problem these medical concepts can be easily reformulated and applied to trafficking:
Primary prevention aims at preventing a vulnerable person (such
as one willing to move to a different place withouth having the necessary legal/economic requirements) coming into contact with a
trafficker ( the pathological agent).
In this first stage the main expected outcome of primary prevention is
to help the vulnerable1 person to consider carefully the pros and cons
of a decision to move to another area and live in an insecure fashion2.
Primary prevention in the field of trafficking is aimed at removing the pathological elements of the movement by means of
the following:
• Providing information on a correct and safe migratory process;
• Supporting the search for alternative plans (postponing the
travel, improving the conditions etc.).
1
In this context the term vulnerable must not considered as a negative stigma; since
trafficking is based on deception, everybody could fall in the trap.
2
It must be underline that trafficking can occur in the same country where the person live.
44
Prevention
Secondary prevention activities are oriented differently depending on the stage of the trafficking process:
• In places of origin3 they are intended to equip the person
who has already decided to leave with tools/advice aimed
at reducing the situation of danger once at destination;
• In countries of destination where the beneficiaries are already victims of trafficking, the focus is twofold:
a) To enable them to avoid that living conditions lead to
risky behavior (drug, alcohol, self abuse).
b) To help them to maintain their dignity and personality.
Tertiary prevention activities are aimed at helping the survivors
to overcome the life-altering experience of trafficking. They
seek to avert destructive behavior such as social or physical suicide
and help the survivor make a new beginning and re-plan the future.
The separation of the stages of prevention is beneficial both to beneficiaries and to practitioners. The beneficiaries have the opportunity to focus on their plans and life expectations, and are helped in
carefully considering what is best for them. The practitioners take
a professional “posture” positively oriented, not related to single
actions performed in the short run (a secured failure), but on sound
strategies implemented in the long run, under different circumstances (an almost secured success).
When activities related to the prevention of trafficking are undertaken, they are often limited to primary prevention. The contact with
the pathology (in our case the trafficker) does not mean the end of
preventive actions. Prevention merely enters a new and perhaps
more urgent phase.
PREVENTION Vs INFORMATION
Prevention is often confused with information. But information and
prevention initiatives do not share the same goals and, therefore,
they do not use the same methodology. The aim of information
is to diffuse information about a phenomenon to a wide part of a
3
Not necessarily the place of origin of a trafficked person is different from the one where
s/he is exploited.
45
Prevention
Prevention is often confused with information. But information and
population (if not the whole of the population) by means of speprevention initiatives do not share the same goals and, therefore,
cific communication techniques (TV spots, radio jingles, street billthey do not use the same methodology. The aim of information
boards, posters, leaflets, community lectures etc). This information
is to diffuse information about a phenomenon to a wide part of a
increases the population’s level of knowledge about the phenomepopulation (if not the whole of the population) by means of specifnon. The aim of prevention is to modify the at-risk behavior that
ic communication techniques (TV spots, radio jingles, street billcould lead to contact with the undesirable event/affliction. Behavboards, posters, leaflets, community lectures etc). This information
ior modification can be achieved only through direct and agreed
increases the population’s level of knowledge about the phenomecollaboration of the practitioner/expert with the target population
non. The aim of prevention is to modify the at-risk behavior that
because it triggers the emotional and affective investment between
could lead to contact with the undesirable event/affliction. Behavior
the two characters thus providing incentive for behaviour change.
modification can be achieved only through direct and agreed collabAlthough it is important to provide information as the logical founoration of the practitioner/expert with the target population because
dation in which prevention activities are rooted, it is expensive (its
it triggers the emotional and affective investment between the two
costs increase according to the level of sophistication of the techcharacters thus providing incentive for behaviour change. Although
nology used) and, alone, has a very low efficacy.
it is important to provide information as the logical foundation in
which prevention activities are rooted, it is expensive (its costs increase according to the
level of sophistication of the technology used) and, alone, has a very low efficacy.
Each stage foresees the implementation of context-specific ad hoc
activities to achieve its goals.
4.2 Prevention Strategies
If information alone is ineffective, how can prevention activities capable of modifying behavior be organized? Again, it is important not
to lose sight of the definition of prevention:
An educational activity aimed at increasing the awareness of vulnerable
people as well as their commitment to
the solution. For this reason it has to
be implemented and shared with beneficiaries via personal interaction.
The goal is to acknowledge the existence of the problem and provoke a change in attitude from indifference to self-protection and to
the protection of others. It means involving the whole community
in a process of reconsideration, and perhaps, modification of social
values. This is why the concept of prevention introduced above is
preferred, since it is inclusive, focusing on the entire community
(the whole body), not just one group (the infected area).
46
Prevention
4.2.1 Primary Prevention
In countries of origin (not affected by armed conflict) primary prevention activities should focus to the increase of the social inclusion
and personal skills of the most vulnerable subjects and on the careful consideration of the reasons that compel them to migrate.
These initiatives are not aimed at discouraging somebody from migration, persuading them that leaving is not a good move and doesn’t bring any benefit. Such an action would only be a waste of time
and lessen the credibility of the practitioner/woman religious.
The job must be oriented to the awareness rising of the target population in respect to the risks linked to suspicious offers too good to
be true; and to the careful assessment of the skills and competences to respond to the intrinsic and often not considered difficulties
(the trip, the impact at arrival, the integration in the host community, the job, the longing etc.) linked to migration.
In this way the person could be convinced that leaving without the
necessary guarantees wouldn’t be good. By postponing the departure the person would have the opportunity to increase their personal
and professional capacities thus giving the migratory process a better chance of success.
In countries of destination primary prevention should be aimed at
carrying out educational initiatives and spreading information to entrepreneurs and consumers, adult and young, about the following
issues:
• The importance of making the purchase of fair trade products a priority,
• Respect market rules;
• Pay attention to the exploitation of economic resources in
developing countries;
• Reduce mainstream gender discrimination.
Primary prevention is implemented by a number of different types
of organizations (human rights oriented, development, migration,
women’s and business organizations).
Unfortunately, being an expansive, multi-faceted, long-term commitment is not always undertaken with an eye toward the distant
future. Some people are inclined to reduce primary prevention to
the generic diffusion of information. It is faster, easier and carried
out “one way”. But as underlined in the box above, this only addresses the awareness-raising component, leaving the target population
47
Prevention
responsible for figuring out how to avoid the problem.
Primary prevention tools, both at origin and destination, are those
commonly used in education, such as peer discussion and selfhelp/consciousness groups.
• With peer discussion we can increase the impact of prevention activities and provoke behavior changes by involving the
“opinion leaders” in schools, work places and communities
at large.
• With self-help/consciousness groups, personal discomforts
can be shared with others experiencing the same thing. An
example is groups where those interested in migration meet
to discuss the details of their project and share information,
doubts, etc.
4.2.2 Secondary Prevention
There are numerous secondary prevention oriented activities aimed
at achieving different objectives.
a) In countries of origin, the targets of the secondary prevention
activities are those who, willing to leave the place where they live,
oppressed by a problematic situation due to economic or political reasons, seek the resolution of their problems abroad with the help of
traffickers. Since the migration process is lengthy, it is in this time
frame that we can reduce the risks linked to the project itself by:
• Checking out if the proposal is genuine, by explaining procedures
to obtain the necessary documentation; if they plan to go abroad,
to ensure that documents are genuine and provide information
about the permits needed to stay and work abroad;
• Cautioning about possible offers from friends, acquaintances, or
strangers that include suspicious solutions such as promises that
“everything will be solved once you arrive”.
• Providing information about realistic wages and warning about
eventual discrepancies between the job and the salary promised;
• Assuring that in case of suspicion it is possible to negotiate a delay of the departure;
• Giving out plenty of contact points (telephone numbers, addresses…) in the country of destination (congregations, churches,
NGOs, health facilities, etc).
48
Prevention
Secondary prevention initiatives work as a sort of parachute. They
can be accomplished by producing simple leaflets, perhaps in collaboration with local institutions, International Organizations or Embassies and inviting the target population to check-out, discuss and
deepen their knowledge. The goal is to increase the awareness of
the people, not to discourage migration itself. It is important not to
come across as a pessimist, but as a valid interlocutor for the success of the migration project. Those who have decided to migrate
will do so in one way or another, hence it is useless to apply scare
tactics. It is better to provide practical information in order to become a reliable focal point on migration inside the community.
Again, working in a network is crucial, therefore it is strongly advised to get in contact with all the relevant interlocutors in order to
familiarize oneself with “the system” as it relates to migration. In
this way, one can better provide information to prospective migrants
especially on administrative issues. A good idea, when international
migration is at stake, is for each woman religious to stay in contact
with her own embassy in order to maintain a privileged channel of
information, access to documents, visa procedures and emergency
numbers that migrants can contact once in the country of destination. Though the importance of having contact numbers seems banal, many migrants in distress and victims of trafficking were able to
escape exploitation thanks to information they had about assistance
centers, addresses, telephone numbers or the small “emergency”
vocabulary they memorized.
b) In countries of destination, secondary prevention is more sensitive because the goal is not to help the victim escape exploitation,
but to keep them “up” and healthy in a very precarious moment. In
countries of destination, secondary prevention actions address all
the persons under exploitation that aren’t able to quit the situation.
Secondary prevention, or harm-reduction, activities are undertaken
primarily through outreach.
In cases of labour exploitation, by opening a counselling center
where awareness raising sessions are organized and possible cases
of exploitation that could hide situations of trafficking, come to the
surface.
In cases of sexual exploitation, by going into the street, it is possible
to reach women in need and build relationships with them as well as
to diffuse information about assistance facilities where women can
go for support.
49
Prevention
In outreach activities it is very important not to begin the relationship with information concerning escape since we do not want the
person to feel that we are judging them. The goal is to start a symmetric relationship where the wellbeing of the person is the only issue. If we immediately approach with information about how to quit
what they are doing we are communicating that we disapprove of it
and, by extension, it would appear we are judging them. By spreading information about assistance centers and building relationships, they are free to come at will and raise their own questions.
Experience indicates that in this way persons respond well to the
helping relationship, especially since they desperately need friendly
contact and spiritual support.
4.2.3 Tertiary Prevention
Include the combination of activities aimed at restoring the rights
and dignity of the persons, supporting their social reintegration and
replanning of the future.
These activities are carried out in all daily or residential facilities
where the survivors can feel physically and psychologically protected, and are based on a structured helping relationship.
The process of leaving the exploitation is neither short nor straightforward. Initial euphoria for the liberation is soon replaced by
the anguish for a future that isn’t promising at all, due to the legal,
economic and psychological burden.
The liberation is the most dramatic and emotionally painful moment
because the survivors have taken their lives back into their own
hands.
The helper is asked to support the persons in this sensitive process
of reconstruction of self, helping them in finding a new balance and
new props, digging into the weird experience of being reduced in an
object.
Chapter 5 is totally dedicated to the helping relationship, its meaning, aims, methods and expected results.
4.2.4 Prevention And Social Stigma
Information and prevention activities often have contents or targets
that can reinforce prejudices toward a community or social group.
The main problem is not when these activities are poorly focused,
but when they contribute to exacerbating the problem.
Unfortunately over the years many misunderstandings have been
50
Prevention
observed. All of these were in the field of sexual exploitation, where
trafficking has been unwittingly promoted instead of reduced.
The most dramatic case refers to an information campaign carried
out by the International Organization of Migration in the Balkans at
the beginning of the twenty-first century. This campaign was based
on pictures of women’s body portrayed in sexy postures (a beautiful
and almost naked woman entering a house) or in coercive situation
(women in canaries cage, hanging from butcher hooks etc.)4.
When prevention and information campaigns overlap trafficking with
prostitution, prospective migrants also associate prostitution with
trafficking. Therefore, logic dictates that if one avoids getting mixed
up with prostitution, one can also avoid being trafficked. With this
in mind, thousands of women left their countries convinced they
were not at risk since their traffickers said nothing about working
in prostitution. This kind of misunderstanding facilitates the work of
the traffickers because they know which words to avoid and how to
assuage fear (“you won’t have anything to do with prostitution”).
Further, once back home, freed from exploitation, all victims are
considered prostitutes (even if their exploitation did not include prostitution). Clearly, this makes rehabilitation even harder since it increases their chances of marginalization. In many cases they have
to hide out somewhere else with a new identity in order to reintegrate themselves in their country of origin.
Another example is the stigmatization of migration that occurs when
the risks of trafficking are confused with the risks of migration. Migration is not the risk. The uninformed and unplanned process of
migration creates the risks associated with the movement. If we
attempt to persuade that “migration is very dangerous,” we appear
unreliable since millions of migrants have witnessed the contrary.
When risk is generalized, people lose confidence in the messenger.
Our role is not to scare people into making decisions, it is to help
them obtain correct and reliable information and assist them in reorienting their migration project so that it avoids or reduces risk.
In conclusion we can see why it is so important to develop prevention activities with the guidance and input of the beneficiaries themselves. In this way we can more easily avoid confusion of needs as
well as stigmatization of victims of trafficking and migrant.
4
Those willing deepen this issue can refer to "Beatiful Dead Bodies", Andrijasevic 2007.
51
Victim’s
protection
5.VICTIM’S PROTECTION:
BASICS OF HELPING
RELATIONSHIPS, EMPOWERMENT
AND BURN OUT.
Introduction
This chapter addresses the concept of the helping relationship, a
delicate approach intended for those already working in education
or support and therefore seasoned in educational and helping processes.
The primary interest in the helping process is to promote self-help/
growth such as coping skills and solving one’s own problems by
drawing on one’s own inner resources and strengths, temporarily
forgotten or psychologically removed.
The ultimate goal is the full reintegration of the trafficked person
in the society of destination, or origin if they are willing to go back.
CONCEPTUALIZATING INTEGRATION IN THE TRAFFICKING
FRAMEWORK
According to the United Nations University “Asking a scholar
to define integration is like asking a blind man to define an
elephant. Surprisingly enough, there is no clear definition of the
word integration, despite the common use of the word”. The lack
of general consensus on the definition of integration does not
depend on scarce awareness, neglect or disinterest on the topic but
simply because, as pointed out in the cited UNU study, this issue
can be approached in many different fields – sociology, biology,
economy, psychology - where the concept of integration is applied,
focussing on different assumptions, aspects, criteria and actors. In
the field of human mobility, focussing on individual and social aspects,
integration can be approached through two different perspectives:
• as a one- way process, along which those coming from one social
group - newcomers - have to embrace a pre-existing, unified social
order with a homogeneous culture and set of values;
52
Victim's
protection
• as a two- way process, along which those living in one given social
context – newcomers and natives - contribute in creating a new social
order and a heterogeneous culture and related set of values. In this
respect, the EC definition of integration, which has been in fact developed
in the same framework of human mobility, refers to integration as a
two-way process that involves mutual adaptation of migrants and the
host society, as well as equality of rights and obligations. In these
terms, integration is a long-term, open-ended, dynamic relationship
between migrants and the receiving society that involves dialogue and
adjustment on both sides. According to this perspective, the characters
involved are individuals, groups or communities, that are in a position
of symmetry and gain mutual benefit through the progressive
merging of their cultures, habits, traditions and experiences in a new
“whole” which is the society reshaped as a result of this combination.
Applying such concept in the framework of a social and criminal
phenomenon like trafficking, whereby persons (victims) suffer from
a destructive action that puts them “outside” the “normal” social
context, poses some difficulties. In fact, given their status as victims
of a crime that strongly affects their capacity of self-determination,
trafficked persons are not in a position of symmetry, and therefore the
conceptualization of integration as a “two-way process” is unsuitable for
this specific group, no matter if one refers to TCNs or national citizens.
In order to reach a conceptualization of integration for victims of
trafficking it is possible to start from the etymology of the term, by
which integration means get renewed, restored1, noun from action
(integrare) to render something whole. This conceptualization seems to
apply better to the peculiar situation of trafficked persons who, being
victims of a crime, have been put “outside” the social context, because
of the deprivation of their identity, freedom, dignity and rights. In this
respect, integration for trafficked persons means first and foremost, the
action of giving back to the person the uniqueness of the individual’s
self and the restoration of the person’s rights and dignity2. Such action
1
From the Online Ethimology Dictionary the noun integration means precisely
renewal, restoration of rights.
2
The rights that trafficked persons should be supported to access and fully enjoy
are set in the following series of international instruments:
1. Human rights law- applies to all human beings, including trafficked persons;
2. International labour law - aimed specifically at migrant workers; defines the
53
Victim’s
protection
is preliminary in order to re-establish the violated “symmetry” in
order for the “two-way process” to take place.
In such conceptual
framework, the institutions of the host society play a strategic role
in putting in practice those actions that allow victims of trafficking
being restored from the abuses they have suffered, through the
following steps: 1. acknowledging trafficked persons as victims,
through a legal framework that promptly restores not only their
violated rights, but also their identity through the recognition of a
legal status. Such action represents an essential pre-condition as
trafficked persons are “invisible” until the law states officially that
they are victims of the trafficking crime; 2. promoting a general
“cultural attitude” that allows trafficked persons feeling “persons of
value”, with recognized rights (the same of the other native citizens),
well-accepted and most welcome; 3. setting up services to facilitate
the social inclusion of the victims. In this sense, “social inclusion”3 is
part of the process of integration - that according to the above starts
from the identification and acknowledgement of victims as such - and
must not to be considered as a synonymous of integration. While the
role of the first and third action in the process of integration is selfexplanatory, something more has to be said about the second one.
The “cultural attitude”, in fact, has to be considered as the real “glue”
of the whole process of integration of a person, particularly of those
who have suffered from abuses and whose rights have been violated.
basic rights enjoyed by all migrants employed outside their home country (
International Convention on the Rights of All Migrant Workers and members of
their family, ILO conventions);
3. Refugee law - applies to persons seeking asylum/refugees (Convention relating to the Status of Refugees of 1951 and Additional protocol of 1967); 4.
International and transnational criminal law (2000 Rome Convention, UNTOC
and Protocols and others). To those instruments, additional non-binding guidelines for the respect of trafficked persons, rights are contained in the following documents: • the Office of the High Commisioner for Human Rights
(OHCHR) Recommended Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Human
Trafficking; • the OHCHR Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of
Crime
3
The term social inclusion has been defined among others by the European
Commision as the process "wich ensures that those at risk of poverty and social
exclusion gain the opportunities and resources necessary to partecipate fully in
economic, social and cultural life and to enjoy a standard of living and well-being
that is considered normal in the society in wich they live. It ensures that they
have greater partecipation in decision-making wich affects their lives and access
to their fundamental rights".
54
Victim's
protection
Four steps, undertaken conscientiously and professionally make this
goal attainable:
• Welcoming (communicate to the persons that the helper is
there for them);
• Support;
• Autonomy;
• Empowerment.
These steps hinge on listening, mirroring and accompanying the
assisted. It is, therefore, closely related to the Gospel message and
the behavior of Jesus, the source from which women religious draw
their inspiration in their ministry on behalf of persons who are trapped by trafficking.
The helping relationship focuses on the healing of psychological,
social and spiritual distress, aspects that interact and mutually condition one another in the process of rebuilding the personality of the
assisted person.
The directions included in this chapter are useful and can be applied
at any stage of the reintegration process and shouldn’t be reduced
to the psychological sphere.
For example, since the full reintegration of trafficked persons depends on the recognition of their juridical status, the helping relationship techniques can be useful also during the legal procedures
following the liberation.
To support the person with the helping relationship techniques in
this apparently “cold” and technical process can speed up the recovery of one’s self-esteem and the perception of one’s personal value.
5.1 The Helping Relationship
In the last 30 years the complex panorama of the world of help and
support has increased and developed various models of intervention, schools of thought, and techniques that provide a variety of
methodological and operational proposals. The stimulation for this
theoretical and operational research stems from a common presupposition: that physiological and psychological needs are deeply interconnected. Another factor influencing and perpetuating research and interest in the field of helping relationship has been the
emergence of new forms of discomfort.
55
Victim’s
protection
Ever-increasing migration flows and the resulting enrichment and
diversity of cultures, have clearly modified the social fabric of countries of origin and destination. By introducing new elements, cultural
diversity has also had an effect on traditional notions of helping alliances and techniques. New interlocutors and new needs have called for the modification and updating of helping interventions aimed
at assisting those in distress.
The Helping Relationship Models
Before suggesting specific operational interventions, it is useful to
understand the two main ways of offering help. In interpersonal relationships, for example, when a friend comes to us with a problem,
we tend to select one or the other of these methods instinctively,
depending on our relationship with the person and our own personality. We might tell our friend what we would do in the same situation
or how we responded to similar problems in the past. Sometimes we
might give our opinions on the issue itself or tell our friends what we
think they should do. Or perhaps we assist our friends by calming
them down and helping them to think clearly. Those who work in
human-contact occupations, however, must deliberately select an
approach that is most likely to assist the client. The two models of
helping relationships can be associated with the following methodological principles:
• The directive system
• The non-directive system
The directive system is based on the assumption that the helper
is able to understand and interpret the needs of the person assisted
and to identify how to achieve the solution. In interpersonal relationships, many people spontaneously choose this approach when
they offer advice about what they would do to solve the problem.
The non-directive system relies on the belief that the person assisted is the only one who can truly understand her problem and
is therefore the only one able to plan and carry out a process to
resolve the problem. From this perspective, the duty of the helper
is focused on putting the persons assisted at ease and helping to
rebuild their self-esteem and self-confidence allowing them to stimulate their own supporting action. For example, by listening and
56
Victim's
protection
providing them with relevant information we show them that they
are in control of their life and that we think they are more than capable of making her own decisions.
As we can see, the two models are opposites. The directive system
relies entirely on the professional and persuasive abilities of the
helper since she “steers” the relationship by telling the persons assisted how to solve their problems. Consequently, should things go
wrong for the assisted who follows this advice or remains unconvinced, the helper often feels responsible. The non-directive system,
on the contrary, is rooted in the reawakening of the personal resources of the assisted, helping them acquire coping skills so that they
can plan their future and resolve their problems.
5.1.1 Psychological Profile Of The Survivors.
The theoretical/operational model must be consistent with the characteristics of the beneficiaries. The pain of the survivors usually
runs deep, stimulating intense needs for affection, safety, and protection. These needs are absolutely subjective, and cannot be generalised.
Survivors of trafficking have undergone three different emotional
phases, each one of which can potentially disturb or favour recovery.
The first phase begins with disillusion concerning the unfolding migration. The disillusion may have begun during the trip or upon arrival in the country of destination. The survivor can only surrender to
the emotions overtaking her during the experience. Powerful defence mechanisms such as denial and psychological distancing manifest
themselves in an effort to survive and to aid the threatened psychological balance. This becomes a sort of limbo where only the present
is relevant and there is no connection between the days, hours or
moments. In this situation, one no longer sees a chain of events nor
logical timeframes or a sequence of life. The victim, unable to think
clearly, is torn between remaining in the situation and hopefully fulfilling her dream or leaving and facing failure.
In the second phase, the victims realize they must rely on their own
resources to get out of the situation. At this point, she feels more
optimistic and finds new hope and strength. The new attitude awakens resources that had previously remained “frozen”.
The third phase allows the individual to understand the importance of what has happened. It provokes consideration of both the
negative and positive aspects of the experience. The survivor now
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has to face a sort of new identity whose foundations rest in the
past and whose pillars will be erected with each new experience of
relationships.
Usually the helper, especially after years of practice, has the natural tendency to discriminate among the experiences, giving more
empathy and attention to those where the pain is associated with
physical violence or segregation. But the pain isn’t necessarily attached to violence. There can be experiences of exploitation apparently “light” that turn into something unbearable for the person
that suffered them.
Therefore the suggestion is: never judge an experience applying a
sort of “hierarchy of the pain” to the different forms of trafficking,
because people perceive the impact differently. It mainly depends
on many interconnected elements, ranging from the deep inner self
to what was experienced during the growing-up process to the current situation. All these influence the self-esteem and the resilience
of an individual, the two psychic agencies on which the helping intervention is bound.
At first, the persons assisted put forward only the part of the pain
that they feel comfortable allowing the helper to see. The helper
must keep in mind, however, that this is only one component of the
pain that also includes the effects of experiences before being trafficked, during the trafficking experience itself and often, after.
Another element characterizing the emotional condition of survivors
is the perceptible state of confusion. Confusion can lead the individual to rumination, the incessant, cyclical contemplation of the past
mistakes leading up to the current problem. This is an attempt at
problem solving, but the logic is incoherent and focuses on the past,
keeping solutions for the future elusive.
Rumination is a mental state where the persons continuously and
emotionally think about the problem, dramatizing it, associating
further catastrophe to possible solutions. They become prisoners
of their own thoughts and feel as though they are prey to future
events. Although they think, their thought process is an effort to
solve their problems, this kind of thinking actually precludes viable
solutions and leads to depression. The figure in the next page illustrates that the condition of rumination is a vicious cycle. The person assisted is trapped in the circles of rumination, unable to break
through the barrier of the circle of pain, to follow the tangent line
leading to growth.
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PATH TOWARD GROWTH
RUMINATION
The presence of rumination worsens with feelings of neither being listened to nor understood. These feelings can stem from the intrinsic
difficulty in sharing the emotional pain felt and the fear of not complying with the cultural and professional framework of the helper.
It is clear that social, psychological, cultural and spiritual components play an important role in helping alliances. The document,
therefore, relies on the non-directive technique that portrays a vision of the helping relationship characterized by the concept that
the clients are the center of their own intervention.
Essentially, the individual is the focus of our attention not the problem. By focusing on the individual and abilities, the helper promotes self-help and dispels the perception that the helping relationship
is a map which the person being assisted uses to finding a way out
from their problems.
5.1.2 Proposal Of An Operational Model
a) The basis
The helping relationship model can be summarized as follows:
The helping relationship is an action, based on communication,
with the aim of reactivating and reorganizing the resources of the
person assisted.
This statement exemplifies the kind and style of intervention we will
propose within our treatment. The definition implies three concepts.
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First, the helping relationship is described as an “action,” therefore
it consists of active behavior with clear guidelines and procedures,
which the helper applies toward the benefit of the person in need of
assistance. It is, therefore, a structured and proven technique, not a
“feel good” philosophy or a pop psychology approach for prompting
troubled individuals to cheer up.
Second, the action performed by the helper is rooted in communication since helping someone does not refer to doing something for
them, but assisting them in solving their problems.
The third concept represents a key element of the intervention
methodology. It identifies the goal and lays out the road map leading to its realization. The support action of the helping relationship has the distinctive and sole purpose of “awakening”
the resources of the person assisted. The resources already
exist within the persons, but due to their intense emotional state,
alone, they are unable to awaken them.
The benchmarks that embody the non-directive helping relationship
are summarized below:
• An active behavior with clear guidelines;
• An action rooted in communication;
• A reawakening of the personal resources of the person assisted.
An example will illustrate the use of the non-directive helping relationship. The scenario: a friend calls us in a state of panic because
she can’t find a document absolutely necessary for a meeting the
following day. We respond to her plea for help and hurry to her room
to find her desperately going through her things to find the document. The room appears to have been turned upside down. She is
restless, anxious, and deeply worried, using dramatic and pessimistic tones. At this point we genuinely want to help our friend. We can
choose one of two different ways to do so:
• We could put ourself in our friend’s shoes, assume her preoccupation, reorganize the room to make it easier for us to
look through all the possible hiding places until we find the
document.
• Or we could first try to calm down our friend while offering a healthy dose of moral support. Then we help her plan
what to do next. We support her in her decision to reorganize
the room until reaching the objective; however, during the
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planning phase, we also encourage her to suggest a Plan B
should the mission to retrieve the document be unsuccessful.
The above scenario illustrates the antithetical nature of these two
approaches. The second approach is preferable to the first since it
stresses autonomy in the process of solution.
It should be noted, however, that the non-directive helping relationship is not a sort of cold, “tough love” approach, leaving distressed
individuals to their own devices while the helper looks on wondering
how they manage to get themselves into such predicaments. On the
contrary, it accompanies and supports the persons in distress by
providing information (when asked) and helping them to reorganize
in a manner that they think is appropriate. They remain in the “driver’s seat”, driving themselves to the solution. At their request, the
helper is beside them in the “passenger seat”, actively supporting
them in following the map they devised with the emotional and technical (information) support of the helper.
This supportive action helps the assisted persons to realize that
an interdependent relationship actually promotes self-help. The
directive approach, on the other hand, stimulates a sense of
dependence, impotence and ineptitude even if our friend is clearly
relieved when we find it.
By using the non-directive technique the helper spurs the
thought process and awakens and reorganizes their experiential
“knowledge”.
The task of the helper is to make the persons assisted become aware that both their problem and any possible solutions are unique and
subjective. This helps to establish the nature of relationship since it
suggests that the helper does not intend to dictate strategies, but
rather to help outline the resolution of their problems.
The active accompaniment and support of the helper encourages
the persons in distress to look at themselves (self-refer) and recognize their problem-solving skills. Through support, the persons
assisted have the opportunity to find some sense and meaning to
life during this period of distress.
Self-referral and search for meaning enables the victim to become
conscious of the real problem and the available subjective solutions.
At this point, we may question why the persons assisted, the individuals who are most familiar with the intricacies of their problems
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and who have the resources within to solve them, does not carry out
the problem-solving actions on their own.
The reason they cannot do so is because the confusion phase is
so powerful that it actually blocks access to the cognitive (rational
thought), emotional and behavioral resources that they possess.
In such a context, the non-directive helper reflects the thoughts of
the assisted, purifying them from the influence of depression. The
persons assisted can then recognize their own thoughts, revised,
and simplified by the helper, allowing them to reach inside themselves (or self-refer) and transform their thoughts into a plan and goals
for the future.
To summarize, an effective and efficient support relationship
is characterized by a sequence of actions whose objectives are the
“emancipation” of the assisted persons from their past and from
their negative self-image (I am able to handle my problems)
b) The helper skills.
Now we can examine the skills that the helper needs in order to help
the assisted through the difficult moment of confusion. To support
the person in difficulty, the helper must be an expert in:
• The management of the interpersonal communication (The
media of the interpersonal communication: observation, listening, response.)
• The use of a methodology of work
• Negotiation
“Management Of Interpersonal Communication: Observation”.
Observation is more than the passive act of looking at something.
Let’s imagine someone standing in front of a picture in a museum. If
the person does not have technical knowledge about art or drawing,
s/he will observe the picture in order to receive pleasure and give a
personal judgment. To do so, the person will activate certain emotions or memories linked to a personal experience. The drawing has
the capacity to stimulate positive emotions of appreciation or negative emotions of dislike. In either case, the assessment is based on
the person’s personal experience and preference. If the person were
an art critique, s/he would observe the same picture from another
perspective. The observation would be aimed at decoding the technique used by the artist, examining the esthetic choices, the lines,
the use of color, deciphering what the artist wanted to convey, etc.
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An art critique would focus the observation on the painting using
learned techniques and skills, rather than simply basing the opinion
on experiences and self-reference.
However, the goal of the helper’s observation is not to judge the
person assisted, but to understand useful information for obtaining
a clearer picture of the person. To do so, the helper will observe:
• The verbal sphere (words, semantics, etc.)
• The para-verbal sphere (tone, volume, speed, etc.)
• The non-verbal sphere (gaze, gesture, distance, physical
contact, etc.)
A significant part of understanding the person assisted comes from
keen observation that can be linked to the other data coming from
the listening phase.
“Management Of Interpersonal Communication: Listening”.
Likewise, listening implies more than just hearing. The attention
of the listener must be focused on the other person in the conversation. Explicitly, listening means not feeling the need to express
an opinion before the person speaking has finished developing her
thoughts. To listen means being able to summarize in our mind what
the other person has said.
“Management Of Interpersonal Communication: Responding”.
Responding represents the most visible action of our participation
in communication. Communication analysis indicates that several
typologies of response exist and that each type influences the future
of the relationship.
If we know how we are likely to respond naturally to a situation, we
are better able to control ourselves in the helping relationship since
one’s natural response may not always be the most effective.
Those interested in discovering their own “natural response”
can take the test “The Natural Response” in the appendix.
Those already aware of their inclination can continue reading.
The following are some rules for avoiding domination of communication:
1. Be sure that you have understood the other’s point of view
(improves communication and allows the interlocutors to ex-
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press themselves);
2. If you aren’t sure that you have understood, ask for clarification to enable better understanding (it shows interest in
the story of the person assisted);
3. Respond to the content (pay attention to what has been said
not to how it has been said);
4. Don’t ask ambiguous questions (clarify the questions that
aren’t clear, it avoids mistakes and confusion);
5. Respond briefly and clearly (long answers create confusion
and seem like a monologue from which the person assisted
it is excluded);
6. Avoid interpretation (if it is incorrect, the persons assisted
think they are misunderstood, or that they're in the wrong
place);
7. Avoid judgments and evaluation (this deters the persons assisted from communication and increases aggression since
the persons assisted feel they're under attack. It also diminishes self-esteem. Evaluations are an imposition of one’s
personal values and lifestyle on the person assisted);
8. Use a response that conveys understanding (synthesizing
what the person assisted has said in order to confirm meaning and contents)
c) The methodology for the implementation of the help model.
Now that we understand the theory behind the process which leads
the persons assisted to identify, articulate, and solve their problem,
what are the practical steps we can take to implement the theory?
Below is the list of the 9 steps of a non-directive helping relationship. The list is followed by a detailed explanation of each step.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Welcoming
Identifying, along with the client, the problem
Clarification of the problem
Understanding the problem
Prioritization (with the client’s input)
Self -determination
Solving Action (with client’s input)
Results
Self-Referring
Though it may seem commonplace, welcoming is one of the most
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delicate moments in the helping relationship since it sets the tone
and ambience for the process. During the welcoming or reception
of the person assisted, after having prepared the setting (the place
where the relationship will be performed) the helper should establish a serene rapport aimed at calming and reassuring the person assisted. The helper must introduce herself identifying clearly her role
and intentions. She must also allow the persons assisted to explain
their problem when they are ready. It is not advisable to start the
meeting asking the persons to be assisted about the problems; it
is more effective to wait for them to find the way and the words to
communicate it to the helper.
After the persons have articulated their difficulties, they can begin
to agree on a “contract” which clarifies the rules and goals of the
helping relationship setting.
Suggestions on communication with the trafficked persons:
Speak clearly without promising miracles, be firm and coherent, and
follow the same line without change of direction. At the end of the
initial welcoming meeting, the helper can agree with the person to
be assisted about the next meetings.
Below are specific techniques for welcoming and building a productive and friendly relationship with the person assisted:
• Approach each individual with an open mind.
• Use mirroring. Take note of words used and try to incorporate them into the conversations.
• Listen to the explanation of the situation without correcting
or arguing.
• Ask questions rather than making firm statements. “So you
feel confused about what you should do?” rather than “You’re
obviously feeling confused.”
• Clarify expectations and purposes. Clearly explain the helping process and your role in working together toward solutions.
• Clarify commitment and obligations to the working relationship.
• Acknowledge difficult feelings and encourage an open and
honest discussion of feelings.
• Be consistent, persistent, and follow through.
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• Promote participatory decision-making for meeting needs
and solving problems
The helper can identify the problem by listening to the person assisted. During these first meetings, the persons assisted often speak
about their discomfort in a generic and spontaneous way. The role
of the helper is to find out, with the help of the person assisted, the
real problems causing the discomfort. Then, the persons assisted
can be stimulated to clarify the problem by reflecting on how they
feel about it. The helper must help them to become aware that the
problem is unique and subjective just as the solution is also unique
and subjective (there are no formulas).
To understand the problem, the person assisted should divide
the problem into sub-elements. This action is necessary to help the
person assisted understand the problem is a sum of various factors.
This is useful because it leads to examining different spheres where
it will be necessary to work to find an articulated solution.
Prioritization is the action undertaken to organize the sub-elements be addressed in order to solve “the problem.” The helper
should ask the persons assisted which among the sub-elements are
the most urgent and the most important to them. In this way the
person assisted will produce a ranking of the sub-elements of the
problem. At the end of this phase the helper can ask the person
assisted to concentrate on the most urgent and important element
identified, leaving aside for the moment the others. Self-determination is the moment when the person assisted can gather the fruit of
the work done and decide to act, translating what has been planned
“theoretically” into behavior. This is a revitalizing moment that comes before the action.
The solving action is the phase in which the person assisted plans
and does a series of actions aimed at solving the problem recognized as the most important and urgent. This phase is articulated in
the following steps:
• Set the goal. The person assisted turns the problem into a
goal.
• Develop a plan. The person assisted has to point out the
behavior or action necessary to solve the sub-element.
• Set a timetable. In this stage the person assisted estimates
the amount of time necessary to reach the goal.
• Prepare the steps for realization. The actions necessary and
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the time needed to execute each step are pointed out.
• Follow up. For each of the steps or actions identified and
executed by the person assisted, it is useful to give time to
discuss the experience of executing each step with her (was
it difficult, if it so why, where were the problems, etc).
The result is what has been achieved at the end of the action
To self-refer a result implies that the persons assisted become
aware of the value of the action and the fact that their goal has
been achieved.
The realization of the above steps allows the helper to “accompany”
the persons assisted towards the solution of one of their problems,
in order to establish a precedent in their life. This precedent will
support and give them confidence in finding the solution to other
problems.
5.2 Empowerment
The goal of the helping relationship is to facilitate the empowerment of the person assisted. Since no individual can ever empower
another, it is possible only aid the process. Empowerment is an
action aimed at increasing levels of energy and awareness, which
already exist but are undeveloped.
The psychological basis of empowerment is: self-esteem.
Self-esteem is the perception of one’s Self in terms of value and
ability to face and solve life’s problems (Self refers to the totality of
thoughts and emotions concerning one’s self).
In other words, self-esteem is not merely a thought, but a durable
state of self-approval. Self-approval is one’s own endorsement of
one’s actions, feelings, thoughts and behavior. A healthy self-esteem is fundamental to being able to take responsibility. Individuals
who value themselves will take care of their health (physical and
psychological) and will be respectful of their quality of life. When in
trouble they will not expect someone else to solve their problem,
though they may recognize that they need assistance and seek a
helping relationship.
Since healthy self-esteem is a prerequisite for empowerment, the
first step is to help the persons assisted recognize that they are
indeed a person capable of improving their condition. Persons in distress go through a difficult process in implementing positive chan-
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ges in their lives because their self-esteem has been eroded. Some
of the external manifestations are loss of capacity or willingness to
take care of themselves and address their needs. For this reason,
the helper must guide the clients to recognise their own self-worth
as well as the fact that they are worthy of self-love and the love of
others.
In order to help remove blocks to self-esteem, we need tools conducive to self-exploration. Some of these tools are:
• consciousness,
• self-reflection,
• self-dialogue.
• Consciousness is the capacity to understand what is happening inside and outside of us (to decipher the elements of what
is happening and their significance), being aware that reality is
what we actually live and perceive. For example, I could observe: “I said hello to a Sister and she didn’t reply.” Consciousness
is the capacity to perceive an emotion (I feel ignored), consider
this emotion as mine and accept that from my point of view it
has sense and meaning (I feel mistreated). In spite of all of
this, my feeling of being hurt does not represent the objective
reality (maybe the Sister was simply immersed in her thoughts,
or didn’t see me etc.)
• Self-reflection is the capacity to think about an occurrence,
analysing all relevant components, without being selective. For
example “the Sister doesn’t like me” is only a single possibility
accounting for her lack of response.
• Self-dialogue is the capacity to speak with ourselves. It is a
sort of discourse we address to ourselves in order to understand
what is around us. Example: “I consider the Sister a person who
doesn’t like me, but as usual I’m being too sensitive. I often
take things too personally and then don’t make an effort to find
out what the problem is or if there even is one”.
These tools are useful for reframing the experience of trafficking
(and of the failure of their migration project) of the person assisted.
Still, the persons assisted can remain blocked, even if they are
beginning to feel a bit relieved. Now, with the proper tools for
our exploration we can approach a door called self-perception.
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Self-perception is to be in touch with the thoughts and sensations
that characterize us as individuals (I am the totality of my thoughts and emotions). Self-perception enables us to enter into relationships. Self-perception can be metaphorically considered as the
“foundation” of the relationship.
As individuals we provoke expectations inside ourselves and in
others. These expectations produce actions (our own and those of
others), which produce results (successful or not) that will influence
our self-perception (I value myself, I don’t value myself).
Expectations
Self-Perception
Ac-
tions
Results
As we can see in the diagram above, self-perception is at the beginning of the track (it is the first step) and at the same time it is
also at the end (it is the final step). To illustrate, we could say: “I
felt happy yesterday (self perception) I expected that my Sisters
would also share my good mood (expectation)... I went to visit them
(action), ... they were as happy as I was and we had a good time
together (result), .... I feel good when I am with them because I see
that they value me (self perception).” Therefore, we can say that
self-perception is the product of internal (as we perceive our value
as persons) and external factors (as others perceive us).
But where does self-perception comes from? It is acquired during
infancy, when personal value was associated with what our parents
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thought of us. We then extended this model to those around us, assessing if they valued us or not. The first model, however, is crucial
because it is the one with which we associate most closely and the
one that most affects our self-perception.
Starting from the concept of self-perception we can use the first
tool to reframe the experience of the person assisted: the consciousness. We are conscious that self-perception has different components, some depending on us and some on others. We can therefore
use consciousness as a tool to alter self-perception. For example:
“My parents thought I was worthless and are still disappointed with
me. But this is their point of view, mine, on the contrary, is…”
Working on self-perception allows the person assisted to explore
new phases of the growing process. The goal of these initial phases
is to reach a more positive self-perception in order to influence positively the self-esteem.
With our support and with their new expectations, the persons assisted will have to move to the “action” phase in our diagram. This
means they will have to take a risk.
Risk is the perception of danger and the resulting fear, which emerges when we enter new situations. Fear is a natural occurrence whose job is to act as a warning or an alarm. When we are able to control our fear, or listen to it wisely, we allow ourselves to grow.
Consciousness + Risk = Growth
Hence, only by using our consciousness as a tool for assessing situations and eventually taking risks, can we experience growth. Often,
as already mentioned, there is resistance blocking an individual’s
initiation of this process. Resistance to risk-taking can be associated
with fear of disapproval or of failure. This means that an individual’s
natural inclination toward growth is blocked by series of issues that
raise doubts about the capacity to act in an unfamiliar situation (new
territory). For example: “I’d like to have that new job…but what if
I can’t cope with the situation? … What if I’m not smart enough to
handle the duties? What if I simply don’t have the skills?” These are
relevant, and inevitable questions but if they increase anxiety they
destabilize well-being.
If we consider the internal conflict of the persons assisted we see
that they are afraid to fail, they feel pushed to give up before the
failure has a chance to happen. In this scheme of things, it is fre-
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quently observed that the assisted persons are inclined to give up
because it seems easier or preferable to failure. The logic: “I decided not to take the job. Now I feel better and I can think about something else.” This position is disadvantageous because even if the
persons assisted really do feel immediate relief, they will self-refer
or consider themself as individuals with little self worth and thus
diminishing their self-esteem: “I’m unable to improve myself.”
From this we can deduce an important affirmation:
Managing anxiety produced by conflicts or risks
is what allows us to increase our self-esteem.
For example, “The more I am able to manage the anxiety that grows
inside me because I am afraid of looking foolish or failing, the more
I will be able to risk”.
Low self-esteem is influenced by the use of an avoidance/run away
strategy in a situation of conflict. Its antidote is to face the situation.
By avoiding the situation we deny that we have the capacity to cope
with conflict and anxiety. On the other hand, by confronting our
anxiety we affirm our abilities, thereby increasing our self-esteem.
But how can we control anxiety? How can we restrain the instinct to
protect ourselves by running away from the possibility of psychological pain linked to failure? First, it is necessary to tap into our own
resources that allow us to experiment and learn. Second, we must
know when to apply them. These resources are already present in
the individual but they require training by means of:
• feedback
• self dialogue
We are already familiar with self-dialogue, the capacity to talk with
ourselves.
The word feedback contains two words: feed, meaning to nourish
and back, indicating away from the front. We can therefore say that
feedback can be considered “nourishment” from the past. For our
purposes, it is the information that we gather after trying something
(an act or behaviour). For example: “I suggested starting a new
activity for the prevention of trafficking and my Religious Superior
was very open and available to discuss this with me…” Feed back:
“I’m a person who can be considered interesting and worthwhile to
others.” Or, if the Superior was busy and showed little interest: “I’m
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unable to express myself and my skills as I thought”.
The persons assisted have begun reconsidering their past (with the
help of the tools), they now have new expectations and with our
support they have begun to try new things. At this point they are
ready for the second step: the consolidation of self-approval, or of
rebuilding self-esteem. During the second step, the awakening of
the resources, the helper will use:
• self-evaluation,
• disarm the criticism,
• disarm the “must”.
Self evaluation is an internal observation through which we identify conflicts before they happen. For example: “I want to apply for a
certain job, but I know that in situations like this I become anxious
and nervous. I have to prevent these feelings and stay calm and I
have the capacity to do so.
Pathological criticism is the tendency to identify with internal criticism (self-criticism) that forms the basis of self-depreciation and
worthlessness, such as “You won’t be able to do that, you aren’t
smart enough” or “You’re always the same, never finishing what you
start.” etc.
Criticism is a sworn enemy because:
a) It combats our will to try and therefore it diminishes our selfworth and self-esteem,
b) It maintains our internal archive of past failures fresh and up
to date.
To disarm self-criticism we have to be familiar with its “weapons”
of cognitive distortion:
Generalization occurs when an individual infers a general rule
from a single event and applies it to every future event. Ex: It was
a mistake to change jobs. I’ll never do that again.
A stereotype is a kind of generalization based on a label rather
than a rule. Ex: Women aren’t suitable for managerial roles, men
simply can’t be trusted.
Selective reality refers to a phenomenon in which an individual
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“filters” reality by focusing on negative details. Ex: Your Superior
gives you both positive and negative feedback on your work. You
dismiss the positive and dwell on the negative.
Polarization is expressed in seeing the world only in black and white, without shades in between. Ex: Since I seem to be born a loser,
I can’t expect to succeed in life. This subject is impossible. I’ll never
be able to understand it.
Self-reproach is a distortion of those who apologize for events not
entirely under their control. Ex: You suggested a daytrip but bad
weather “ruins” the day. You feel responsible and apologize profusely as if it were your fault.
Interpretation involves “reading into” or decoding someone else’s
thoughts, attributing our own negative perceptions to them. Ex: My
colleague explained that she didn’t have time to help me with a report. She must be angry with me.
Omnipotence/Impotence. Omnipotence involves feeling responsible for everyone and everything. It is a result of a feeling of excessive control. Ex: I must do the job so that everything goes perfectly
in a situation that you can’t control, or, The fate of the organization
rests on the quality of my document. Impotence is when we feel
unable to control anything. Ex: It’s no use because someone else
will decide as usual. My efforts don’t even matter since no one ever
listens to me anyway.
The helper’s duty is to support the persons assisted in recognizing
the pathological criticisms that are basic to their inability to recover.
By helping the persons assisted to use the above reported tools
(self-dialogue, self-reflection, feedback etc.) they can then disarm
the criticism, reducing their corrosive effect on self-esteem.
Once self-criticism has been neutralized, the helper can support the
person assisted in disarming the inner Must. The inner Must is a set
of internal rules, some are our own and some are the result of cultural norms. The latter Must is dangerous for the positive self-perception, because they tend to be rigid rules inherited from family and
elders. An example of inner Musts are: “You have to be the best one
of your class”, “You mustn’t argue”, “Don’t get hurt”.
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The inner Must threatens self-esteem because they are external rules that have been interiorized, therefore they tend not to be useful
for us. They indicate what is right and what is wrong based on assumptions that are not our own. To disarm the Must, the helper uses
the same tools as above: self-dialogue, self-reflection and feedback.
These handy tools are able to identify inner Musts and substitute
them with new, more personal rules. Ex: I must sacrifice myself for
my family. Identification of the “Must”: My mother always said
this, but even though I want to take care of my family, I also want to
live my life. Substitution of the Must: I want to send money back
home and at the same time feel satisfied as person. Now that we
have identified that the goal is to send money home and feel more
satisfied as a person we must identify how we can reconcile the two.
A possible strategy could be “I won’t send money back home for two
months in order to improve the quality of my life (i.e. attending a
training for a job). This will affect my earning potential and allow me
to send money home more easily.”
Many inner Musts can be erased by means of self reflection and substitution of personalised rules.
The new rules will be effective only if linked to authentic values and
are functional. Therefore, they should be:
• Flexible and able to adapt according to growth;
• Personal rather than the internalization of other’s values;
• Realistic, relying on reasonable criteria;
• Enriching rather than restrictive (they should produce,
not stifle growth).
To summarize our exploration of the complex mechanism
of self-esteem, the process of developing and reinforcing
self-esteem produces a perception of energy and control of
the self, both of which serve as the foundation of empowerment.
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5.3 Negotiating Conflict In The Helping Relationship.
It must be kept in mind that context influences communication,
particularly in the framework of trafficking. It is crucial therefore to
analyze the setting of the shelters and other institutions dedicated
to those who decided to escape exploitation. Over the years we
have observed recurrent problems inside these structures. These
problems usually relate to conflict, either between the person assisted and the helpers or among the assisted persons themselves.
Definition Of Conflict
Conflict is the mutual interference of inconsistent acts. The interference provokes a change in usual behavior by increasing dissonances or polarities.
Each individual displays a behavior or demeanor that is the product of the acquired knowledge and experiences. The “experienced
knowledge” comes from the abilities gathered by individuals from
previous phases of conflict in life. Our own experience is rich in
events marked by conflict, but how many times have we questioned
ourselves about our behavior during a conflict? Did we use, consciously or unconsciously, strategies capable of producing a solution? If we did, what kind of solution did we find?
Those questions represent the starting point towards an analysis of
the relational event called conflict and of its solution, called negotiation. Every single behavior consists in a continuous flow of actions
that are ruled by an inner harmony resulting from the experiences
of everyday life. When this harmony is abruptly interrupted by an
unexpected internal or external reaction, a crisis in the normal flow
of our behavior is produced, provoking an instinctive counteraction.
Conflict provokes a change in the individual’s resources in
three psychological “sectors”:
• The mutual interference of inconsistent acts provokes tension.
This tension can be spotted in light forms such as nervousness,
in more serious forms such as anger or rage and on occasion, it
can provoke anguish and an emotional block.
• Behavioral capacities decrease. The normal wide range of behavioral options to respond to different situations shrinks
• The behavioral models of an individual become distorted. This
distortion can lead to aggression, or perceived incapacity and
self-limitation
The dynamic of the conflict can be expressed in two different
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ways: internal or external.
• Internal conflict acts inside the psychic system. The interfering
acts are lived by an individual without the involvement of the
external world;
• External conflict is provoked by a series of inconsistent
reactions produced inside relationships with one or more
persons.
External conflict occurs between two or more persons and has implications both in the psychic sphere of an individual and in the social one. The former implies a reaction within one’s self, concerning
expectation, pride, strength, etc. The latter implies one’s role and
cultural and historical variables.
Definition Of Negotiation
Negotiation is the relationship between individuals with diverging
interests, in a situation with limited resources. The individuals are
interdependent and willing to seek a solution for the common good
(reducing dissonances or polarities).
It has been proven that the capacity to solve a conflict relies proportionally on the variety of problem-solving options/techniques acquired over time. Consequently, for those having experienced few
options/techniques, the capacity to reach a solution is limited; therefore they encounter more conflicts than those who have acquired
some techniques.
To solve a conflict the only exit is negotiation or mediation. Negotiation begins by opening a communication channel (an exchange),
a process to be articulated over time. There are two theoretical
models of negotiation: divisional and generative.
• Divisional negotiation is characterised by two key elements:
who wins and who looses; who is right and who is wrong. The
goal of this model of negotiation is the achievement of the
lowest disadvantage as possible. This is the “I win – you
loose” mentality. It indicates a strong competition between the
actors and is driven by an interpretation of conflicts as a way of
expressing dominance and supremacy. Authoritarian, aggressive
characters impenetrable to reason are examples of a personality
who chooses this kind of negotiation. This model represents the
generally accepted idea of how to solve conflicts, despite the fact
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that it often leads to greater conflict or war.
• Generative negotiation is aimed at the integration of resources
and the interrelation of abilities such as creativity and problem
solving. The goal of generative negotiation is the maximum
mutual advantage. This modality, referred to as “I win – you
win”, is the recognized option for achieving an advantageous
mutual solution. Parties must be willing to be flexible and open
to solutions that may require compromise and alteration of one’s
own position. This model requires characteristics such as respect,
creativity, awareness, confidence in one’s own capacities,
cooperation etc.
We can consider negotiation as communication among different, sometimes asymmetric parties (experience and social role). To engage
in negotiation two prerequisites are necessary: will and strategy.
Negotiation foresees certain phases, or logical steps, toward realizing a strategy aimed at a “negotiation action”: pre-negotiation,
negotiation and post negotiation.
Pre-negotiation requires a series of actions aimed at clarifying the
situation. These actions are:
1. Information gathering
2. Diagnosis of the situation:
• What does each actor need?
• Are other actors willing to negotiate?
• What are the chances of a satisfactory conclusion?
3.
• How can time influence negotiation?
Draft a backup plan:
• What happens if the agreement is not reached?
4.
• What happens if the agreement is only partial?
Identify general goals:
• What are my objectives?
• What are his/her objectives?
5. Identify the scenario:
• What is the social context?
• What are the roles and values of each party?
• What are the general characteristics of behavior of both negotiators?
• What is the motivation of each party?
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6. Select a strategy:
• Divisional
• Generative
Once the pre-negotiation phase is accomplished negotiation can begin. This phase is aimed at reducing the dissonances between the
two positions. Three prerequisite are needed for negotiation:
• Willingness of each party to confront the other (recognize the
existence of the other and his /her grievances)
• Mutual interests (recognize the common values, ideas, interests of both subjects)
• Identify divergences of opinion (recognize different interests)
Negotiation foresees the use of verbal and non-verbal techniques
such as the following.
• The use of few and brief topics to illustrate the point: too
many topics generate confusion, increase the risks of dissonances and bring up the weak points.
• The use of anticipatory signals: revealing one’s own position
followed by the disagreements.
• The use of questions: shows interest in the other while putting the dissonances on the table in a non-threatening way.
• The verification of comprehension: reformulating what has
been said in order to better understand the situation.
• The manifestation of appropriate emotion: improves the climate and can illustrate good will:
Situations to be avoided are:
• Indecisive communication: “That might be acceptable, I’m
not sure…”
• Devaluation: “Don’t worry about it, in any case, I was just
upset, it’s not important…”
• Attack/defense: “Your grievances reflect your inability to understand…”
• Evaluation: “You should accept my proposal because…”
• New proposal perceived as “bargaining:” “If you agree, I’ll
see to it that you receive...”
• Too many topics.
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Post negotiation is aimed at “signing” the agreement. It is composed
of the following phases:
• Documentation of the agreement: Instead of signing an
agreement which may imply distrust, the parties involved
may want to “seal” the agreement by exchanging personal
belongings, having a meal together, or simply shaking hands.
• Spreading the word: Communicate to others (to other guests
if in the shelter) that the conflict has been solved and explain
the process.
The resolution of a conflict by negotiations implies that each individual renounces a prejudicial part of his/her personality. That is why
conflict represents a chance for individuals to enrich their growth by
experimenting. Conflict represents a veritable gym where adaptive
capacities and cognitive and emotional resources are trained.
5.4 “Burn Out”
Persons who are effective in the helping professions recognize the
importance of a holistic approach to maintaining personal health
and wellbeing. This chapter describes the phenomenon of burn out,
presents a psychological perspective on burnout prevention, and
discusses some spiritual dimensions of caregiver stamina and resilience.
A Psychological Perspective
Caregivers who are highly motivated and dedicated to their work
are likely candidates for stress, compassion fatigue and physical and
psychological symptoms of burn out. Intense contact with persons
who are suffering can gradually wear down a caregiver. To avoid
burn out, it is critical that those in helping relationships develop preventive measures. Caregivers must learn to pay attention to their
personal emotional state and levels of physical and psychic fatigue.
Fatigue, which is often observed when one executes his/her functions in a weary haste, can significantly diminish one’s capacity to
be effective.
In the helping relationship, the helper uses knowledge and skills to
build productive alliances. Even the most skilled professionals must
recognize their personal needs and limitations. This is particularly
important for idealistic persons who place great value on generosity
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and availability to meet the needs of others.
Burn Out Syndrome
Burn out is a syndrome manifested by a combination of symptoms
difficult to link with specific ills or troubles. It is a form of stress
related to one’s profession, though it particularly affects those who
work with people in need. Burn out is characterised by a state of
discomfort that has the capacity to influence negatively the motivational inspiration that prompts an individual to fulfil her professional
duties. This condition, given the difficulties in diagnosis, is usually
subtle in its onset and can be experienced passively or unconsciously. It develops over time and is a highly corrosive, dynamic process
that, after a while, impedes professional growth, contributes to job
dissatisfaction, and diminishes one’s professional capacities.
Burn out is characterized by fatigue (perceived or real), lethargy,
loss of objectivity, inability to make decisions, irritability and difficulty in fulfilling the daily routine which, in turn, causes psychological
unrest and anxiety leading to the inability to accomplish one’s tasks.
Helpers experiencing burn out usually look for external reasons to
account for their distress or discomfort such as noisy offices, the
weather, problems of conflict with others etc. Burn out is therefore
difficult to diagnose and address since the person affected typically
is convinced that the root of the problem rests elsewhere.
Burn out is a syndrome of particular interest to those in helping or
human-contact occupations. When the helper is working, she is moving along two axes:
• The first axis can be defined as the “psychological energy”
of the helper. Its polarities are omnipotence and impotence;
• The second axis can be defined as “psychological distance”
from the client. Its polarities are proximity and distance.
OMNIPOTENCE
IMPOTENCE
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OMNIPOTENCE
OMNIPOTENCE
PROXIMITY
DISTANCE
NARCISISM
HYPERINVOLVEMENT
IMPOTENCE
1
OMNIPOTENCE
NARCISISM
HYPERINVOLVEMENT
DISTANCE
PROXIMITY
1
DISTANCE
2
4
PROXIMITY
4
BURN - OUT
BURN - OUT
COLLUSION
3
COLLUSION
IMPOTENCE
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The experience of the helper is summarized in the figure above. The
inevitable act of moving along the axes necessarily affects the quality of the relationship.
Helpers do not usually enter quadrant 1 since this quadrant concerns professionals who are not in contact with or in direct service to
persons being assisted. Individuals in this quadrant are managers,
directors and supervisors.
In quadrant 2, Omnipotence/Proximity, we find the profile of the
individual who is pushed by strong motivation and personal involvement. This person tends to spend a lot of time working. She is in
close contact with the persons she is assisting and may ask them
to “see the light” and change their perception of reality so that they
can begin the growing process as quickly as possible. This kind of
helper often asks for and gives a vast amount of information and
express frustration when the persons are slow to improve their situation. This is a result of the helper’s strong and sincere desire to
end the distress and suffering of another.
In quadrant 3, impotence/proximity, we find the helper who, unable
to reach the person being assisted or effectively implement the helping action, becomes party to the frustration. She may even reinforce the stalemate with regressive and negative attitudes (“It’s impossible like this! We’ll never progress to the next stage.”)
In the fourth quadrant, impotence/distance, we find the helpers
whose motivation has faded but who has chosen to remain in the
helping occupation even if she is suffering through each appointment or work-related task.
The position, which theoretically represents harmony and balance of
emotion and professional performance of the helper, is in the centre
of the diagram where the two axes are equidistant from the extremities. The helper, using the same tools as reported in chapter 6
(self dialogue, self reflection and feed-back) can check her position
along the axes and implement countermeasures if necessary.
Measures For Preventing Burn Out.
It is instinctive to seek the root of our own distress in external events or persons rather than looking at our own psychological state of
mind. To counter this tendency and face burn out directly, five steps
that promote self-care are recommended:
1. Identify and recognize the condition of burn out.
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3.
4.
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protection
Become conscious of the state of distress and suffering.
Re-appropriate the personal motivational lever.
Redefine goals.
Redefine the role considering goals and limits.
1. The root of burn out can be:
• Sense of isolation/solitude (physical or psychological):
occurs when we feel that we have no counterparts or peers
with whom to collaborate or when we feel that nobody cares
about our job and the quality of our work;
• Sense of impotence: occurs when the issue we are
counteracting seems to be too wide and powerful;
• Absorption of other’s pain: even if we are unaware, we lighten
the burden of the person being helped by taking their burden
on our own shoulders.
It is the combination of these factors that leads to burn out. The
third factor is particularly difficult to manage (once discovered) because it is impossible to measure how much of the other’s pain a
helper absorbs. A warning signal is when we cannot maintain an appropriate distance between ourselves and the person being assisted
(we cry when the client recounts her story) or when our capacity to
empathize dwindles (we lose our patience with the person). If we do
not maintain appropriate distance, or if we believe that maintaining
distance is a cold approach, our emotional resources will eventually
be depleted.
2. We have seen the roots of burn out, but what are the observable
long-term effects? Some typical manifestations of stress and burn
out are:
• Exhaustion or fatigue
• Insomnia
• Anxiety
• Headache
• Gastrointestinal disorders
3. It is imperative to reconsider our “emotional levers” or mission.
It is normal for those who spend a considerable amount of their
time helping others to be emotionally “touched” and highly motivated from ethical/moral point of view. For religious workers these
motivations are reinforced by spiritual ones. It is important to reco-
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gnize when these motivations that prompt us to alleviate the pain of
others threaten our physical and psychological well-being and when
they support and sustain us in our daily action.
4. Linked to point 3, there is the reconsideration and the eventual
redefinition of our goals. Goals act as our compass when we work
in helping occupations. They point us in the right direction and guide
us when we need to get back on track. Goals should be:
S – specific
M – measurable
A – attractive
R – reachable
T – time framed
Once goals have been set, they must be checked with our “moral
filter” (is this goal consistent with my spiritual mission?) and subsequently realised with an adequate plan of action within an appropriate timeframe. Often, in the face of an urgent need to “do
something” we forget the significance of establishing concrete particulars detailing how we intend to do it. For example, if we consider “take action to eradicate the scourge of trafficking” as a goal
without developing specific, measurable, and reachable strategies
to be accomplished within a reasonable period of time, we will be
overwhelmed by a sense of frustration, isolation and impotence.
Without clear and feasible steps toward reachable goals we are prone to experience burn out.
5. We must start with our motivation in order to identify our SMART
goals. SMART goals can then guide our daily work and balance our
energies, making it easier for us to achieve our objectives and perform our duties effectively.
Spiritual Support
For religious workers in the helping professions, faith, spirituality,
religious practices and spiritual support are important factors contributing to the ability to sustain one’s health and wellbeing for prolonged periods of time. Whereas the psychological model of burn out
emphasizes the concepts of stress and depletion, a spiritual approach focuses on drawing strength from inner resources to keep one’s
outlook healthy and positive. For persons of the Christian faith, it
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is the desire to participate in the healing and liberating mission of
Jesus that motivates and sustains direct service to persons in urgent
need. Building on proven psychological principles for appropriate
self-care, persons of faith have an internalized a value system that
enables them to place human suffering in the context of one of the
foundational tenets of Christianity—the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus.
Caregivers, who approach their work from a stance of faith, are sustained by a spirit of hope. Hope inspires confidence that God will
attend to the cries of the poor and suffering, and that God’s grace
acting in human caregivers will enable much to be accomplished.
Spiritual support flows from the conviction that caring for those in
need is the work of God.
Persons rooted in faith recognize that they are “wounded” and limited, but also, that they are strengthened and healed by God.
As “wounded healers,” they are able to empathize with others who
suffer and accompany them in steps toward healing. This does not
exclude them from the experience of stress, fatigue, disappointment
or depletion, but rather it provides access to spiritual stamina that
enables them to hold up under pressure or difficulty.
Writing from the perspective of a counsellor, Cynthia J. Osborn developed the concept of “stamina” to draw attention to the importance of using one’s strengths and resources rather than focusing
one’s energies on riding one’s self of a problem. Interior stamina
is a dynamic life force that moves one toward growth, productivity
and health.
Osborn recommended seven activities or dispositions for reinforcing
stamina and resilience in caregiver relationships: selectivity, temporal sensitivity, accountability, measurement and management, inquisitiveness, negotiation and acknowledgment of agency. Each of
these is relevant to the concept of spiritual support.
Selectivity refers to the setting of appropriate limits on what one can
and cannot do. Viewed in the context of spiritual support, selectivity
involves recognizing that one is not and cannot be a “savior”. For
persons of faith, there is one Savior who loves each person infinitely
more than one can ask or imagine. Selectivity enables the caregiver to place her role within the broader perspective of God’s healing
action in the lives of those who suffer.
Temporal Sensitivity involves making the best use of time in the
time allotted. Persons with a healthy spirituality realize that they
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cannot do everything but that they can do something to assist a
person in need. They cultivate an attitude of doing the best they
can in the time available and focus on the opportunity of the present
moment.
Accountability takes into consideration appropriate ethical standards, guidelines and professional practices. Religious workers in
helping professions are used to working in collaboration with others
and realize the importance of peer support and peer evaluation of
one’s work. Welcoming feedback from others helps to maintain balance and to ensure ongoing growth and development.
Measurement and Management refers to appropriate protection and
conservation of one’s energy and resources. This can involve sharing one’s experiences with a trusted colleague. Spiritual direction
can be a context in which religious workers can explore their needs
to manage their internal resources and lifestyle in healthier ways.
Inquisitiveness is concerned with retaining a healthy sense of openness and wonder. In helping relationships it is easy to become disillusioned. The spiritual perspective that each person is a unique
manifestation of the creativity of God can help one to view those in
need in a non-judgmental way. It can foster a freshness of approach
and offset tendencies to generalize and depersonalize persons in
need of assistance.
Negotiation refers to the importance of flexibility and give-and-take
in helping relationships. Persons who believe that the Spirit of God
is ever making all things new remain open to new ways of doing
things for the sake of the mission. The experience of being part of
a community provides religious workers with transferable skills of
negotiation and a capacity to give-and-take in inter-personal relationships.
Acknowledgment of Agency has to do with the experience of a sense of making a contribution. For religious workers, the experiences
that take place in helping relationships contribute to a sense of efficacy. In the encounter with the person in need, one encounters
God and experiences a sense of meaning and purpose. For persons
whose way of life is based on the following of Jesus, experiencing
one’s efforts to serve as meaningful and significant fosters resilience
and counters burn out.
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5.5 Networking: Description Of The Models, The Aims And
The Added Values
In the last fifty years, social work has seen an increase in complexity, both as increased differentiation and interrelation between different needs (the so-called multi-problem) and as increased number
of the agencies called to take care of them.
Closed care facilities were definitely put aside. These, such as
asylums and shelters (for single women, alcoholics, abandoned children, etc.), were intended to provide an undifferentiated response
(without difference between person and person, between need and
need). Social work opened up to the community, thereby starting a
confrontation with the surrounding reality.
For the solution of increasingly multidimensional problems, practitioners and policy-makers have started experiments to involve gradually all the figures that, for various reasons, can contribute effectively to the solution of certain problems or, better said, to the
satisfaction of certain needs.
This is, in a nutshell, the genesis of networking, an approach that places the individual (not the problem) in need at the center of a complex
and multi-functional system where the following formal and informal
agencies - family, friends, social and health services, community and
religious institutions - are involved in a logic of community care. The
latter is understood as the main context for human development.
The network approach is strategic for interventions, either of prevention or assistance, in the field of human trafficking. It aims to
create or strengthen contacts, facilitate integration and structural
opportunities of communication among different entities (people,
organizations, resources) that are distinct, but may converge or tie
in a systemic way, toward a shared action.
If we move from the theoretical-abstract level to the more practical-operational one, we realize that the protection of the people most vulnerable to victimization in the context of trafficking requires several
interventions at various levels. Interventions placed on a continuous
process of prevention-care-reintegration, often in different fields.
In the field of prevention, direct interventions, on behalf of vulnerable people, in the countries of origin, include educational interventions in schools, youth centers, employment centers, places
of prayer. At destination, educational and formative interventions
typical of primary prevention are directed at potential (and often
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unconscious) exploiters. At destination there are always the interventions of secondary prevention, where the victims are back under
the spotlight. In addition, there are other indirect interventions, namely, all activities aimed at the modification of laws, regulations and
policies of employment, migration, hospitality.
Direct and indirect interventions can be distinguished even in the
field of assistance and reintegration: the first includes all practices
involving the trafficked person, the latter relate everything that revolves around the situation.
This brief summary of the prevention and assistance activities (to
which could be added those related to the prosecution of the crime, which is not treated here because it is outside the competence
of women religious) gives some indication of the large number of
agencies and stakeholders involved.
The figure below shows, in a simplified and obviously not an exhaustive way, the agencies involved in the four main centers of activity
of counter-trafficking.
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It is easy to imagine the number of governmental and non-governmental, secular and religious psychosocial agencies, diplomatic
agencies and intergovernmental organizations, law enforcement bodies, public and private health centers are involved, and how many
professionals from multiple backgrounds work in this field.
It is also clear that a high degree of confusion can be created in
a territory where there is no cooperation between these agencies.
Without collaboration no agency can, by itself, do anything, while a
partial collaboration leads only to partial and unsatisfactory outputs.
This applies to both the places of origin of persons and to where they
become victims. Although human trafficking is poorly defined, it is
clearly a transnational and global phenomenon, which necessarily
requires a high degree of coordination between the parties involved.
Religious life works mainly on the left side of the diagram, in prevention and assistance. However, it shouldn’t be forgotten that in some
countries it works closely with police forces and participates in institutional bodies called upon to decide on the operational strategies
and legislative changes needed to make strategies of prevention,
protection and prosecution stronger.
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To conclude this short introduction of social networks some key elements must be mentioned:
1. Definition. A network is a group of actors (individuals, groups
and organizations) that share the same interests and recognizing
their mutual competence to deal with it, agree to cooperate.
The choice to work in a network with other subjects is, indeed must
be, free. Similarly, even the relationship between the members of
the network should be free; otherwise we can no longer speak of
networks but of structured organizations. Those social networks,
where some members are forced, even if only for convenience, can
not be considered true social networks. This is so because, as we
will see, the elements of trust and respect that are absolutely necessary for the birth and survival of a network are missing.
The relations can be symmetrical or asymmetrical: the first type
envisage a continuous exchange, while the latter are one-way, where the inputs sent by one member don’t envisage feedbacks by the
other.
2. The Bonding Agent. What brings and holds the various members of a network together is trust, which must be recognized and
nurtured through continuous affirmation of shared values and goals. This is what separates a group of actors who, operating in the
same territory, communicate with each other from those who not
only actively collaborate with, but also feel represented by what the
other members do. In the psychosocial field, there can't be a social
network including at the same time members who adopt coercive
methodologies or disrespectful of the dignity of the individual and
others who, on the contrary, firmly believe in the inviolability of the
person and his free will. In this sense, the network can influence and
change the behavior of the members, since an interaction genuinely
geared to exchange and mutual understanding forces the members
to the continuous confrontation with themselves, with their own
actions and especially their own emotions.
3. The Structure: networks can be horizontal, when agencies that
perform the same job agree to provide mutual support and assistance, or vertical, where the relations among the actors are characterized by asymmetry, hierarchy and dependency. Furthermore, they
can be informal when participation is absolutely free and voluntary
or formal, when members manage their cooperation with laws and
rules.
4. The Intensity: the degree of in/formality of the relationship
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between members determines the strength of a network; they can
be then distinguished between strongly tied networks and weakly
tied ones. The strength or weakness in this case does not refer in
any way to the effectiveness of the network, but measures only
the connection between the members. The strongly tied networks
are those where the collaboration is activated almost automatically
when a common goal must be pursued (there is a person in need
of assistance, there is a principle or a right to defend etc.). In the
slide below at the center of the network there is a person in need,
in our case a survivor or a victim of trafficking. The agencies called
upon to deal with issues related to the protection of the victim and
prosecution of the traffickers have an established pattern of response, which is activated as soon as one of the agencies comes across
to the person.
In the weakly-bound networks members establish contacts without
having a common goal, they merely exchange information. An example can be the organization of conferences or for activities related to
the discussion of a phenomenon, in this case the trafficking of persons,
rather than to coordinate operational actions, as above reported.
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The set of the above features will generate different models of
network management. These models will range from a free and random management of communication and internal relations
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to a centralized and coordinated (or decentralized) one
or hierarchical
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Those mentioned above are just a few and are extremely abstract
examples; the reality often lies between these models, with networks that rotate the coordinating role, or where the relationships are
biased by the “competence” of the members. It will be up to the
members, considering their competences, needs, goals, decide what
type of network, and related models of management, prioritize.
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6. THE TALITHA KUM NETWORK
The Talitha Kum network is the result of the collaboration between
the International Organization for Migration and the International
Union of Superior Generals in the “Counter-Trafficking Training Program for Religious Personnel” project, carried out in cooperation
with the Embassy of the United States of America to the Holy See
with funding from the Bureau of Population Refugees and Migration
of the United States.
The project, designed to train religious personnel engaged in the
prevention of trafficking and the protection of victims, aimed at
enhancing the skills of Sisters who often worked in professional and
spiritual isolation.
The focus for the first two years of the project (2004-2005) was
the consolidation of the training module, designed for the benefit of
religious groups and was carried out in individual countries (Albania,
Romania, the Dominican Republic, Nigeria, Thailand, Portugal).
Once the effectiveness of the training was tested, the two agencies,
by mutual agreement, starting from the third year of the project,
decided to change the mode of training delivery from a country basis to a regional basis and with a “train the trainers” approach.
The training courses were addressed to women religious working in
the same regional area with similar expressions of trafficking (recruitment methods, profile of the victims, community responses,
etc.) These committed themselves to spreading the contents of the
course to the Sisters of their country.
Each training session was then followed up, and the foundations of
regional networks and of inter-religious working in the field of trafficking were established.
In consideration of the results achieved in terms of generation of
local networks, the construction of a global network of religious began.
This initiative took place in two linked steps;
The first step: In 2008 the first congress of religious working in
the field of trafficking was organized. The objective of the meeting
was twofold:
a) to prepare a joint statement of the reasons behind the commitment of women religious, in order to have a clear mission statement
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as a basis for dialogue with other institutional, governmental and
non-governmental.
b) to discuss together and gather the “mood” of the Sisters about
the possible establishment of a global network, consisting of all regional networks already existing or under development.
The meeting produced the following statement:
DECLARATION
of the Religious Women participating in
CONGRESS 2008
“Women Religious in Network Against
Trafficking in Persons”
Organized in Rome 2 – 6 June 2008
by the International Union of Superiors General (UISG)
and the International Organization for Migrants (IOM)
We, 47 participant members of 29 Religious Congregations representing the National, Regional and International networks in more
than 30 countries, have come together to share experiences, discuss, reflect and pray about our delicate mission of counter trafficking in persons.
We denounce the crime of Trafficking in persons and proclaim it as a
grave offense against the dignity of the person and a serious violation of
human rights
As women religious in solidarity with our sisters and brothers who
suffer the consequences of this evil we will not remain silent.
We strongly condemn this crime, addressing ourselves first of all
to the Governments of the countries of origin, transit and destination in which our sisters and brothers are sold and rendered objects
of this modern form of slavery.
We call on governments to be responsible not only to make laws
against trafficking and to protect the victims, but also to implement
these laws at all levels and to allocate adequate resources to combat
this crime. It is their responsibility to activate national and interna-
96
The Talitha
kum network
tional networks capable of effectively counteracting this trafficking
in persons.
We urge Catholic Episcopal Conferences, National Conferences of
Religious and Catholic and non Catholic communities, to take a
stance and commit themselves with renewed energy for the defense
of the rights of these sisters and brothers and to denounce all forms
of trafficking.
WE COMMIT OURSELVES
To network with other social, civilian, religious and political organizations.
• To strengthen existing efforts and initiatives.
• To maximize resources for the prevention, protection, assistance, awareness-raising and condemnation of trafficking in
persons.
• To continue to develop educative programs that awaken the
consciousness of people to this phenomenon.
We know that only by working in collaboration and solidarity will
we be able to confront the structural causes that generate trafficking.
This mission obliges us to take a prophetic stance that requires of us
continuous conversion and change of mentality.
We renew our commitment to promote the dignity of every person
as a response to Christ’s words:
“I have come that they may have life, life in its fullness”
(John 10:10).
The second step. In 2009 a second conference was organized,
again with two goals:
a) to verify the usefulness of the mission statement issued the previous year, to check its functionality in terms of operational guidance
and the real possibility of following its spirit;
b) to share the lines for the actual establishment of the global
97
The Talitha
kum network
network and identify the regulatory mechanisms.
At the end of the Congress the establishment of the network Talitha Kum was approved: International Network of Consecrated Life
counteracting trafficking in persons.
The overall objective of the network is to share and maximize the
resources of religious life in the field of prevention, protection and
assistance, awareness and denunciation of trafficking.
The specific objectives were set as follows:
• Share information, research, experiences, best practices,
human and material resources
• Strengthen communication through the use of all available
media
• Carry on new training sessions to enhance the members’
skills for strategic and qualified interventions in the field of
trafficking
• Take a stand by a) making public statements, especially in
the course of worldwide events, b) becoming spokespersons
for those who have no voice and c) sharing strategies and
methodologies to reduce the demand.
Congress mandated the coordination team of UISG to follow up the
conference and be responsible for the management of the network.
Technically, the network Talita Kum is a network of networks, and
includes two distinct modes of management:
- regional networks are mostly “weakbound” networks, as shown
above. Not all the members (knots) have a coordinator, and dialogue with each other according to the need. This happens because,
as already explained, the dynamics of trafficking are very similar,
and the network members speak the same language in the real and
the metaphorical sense.
- the global network, made up of the regional networks, is more
“strongbound” (always in the direction indicated in the theoretical
part); the UISG-based central coordinator communicates to each
single local network when requested and all the time a religious life
worldwide call is needed. The local networks rarely speak to each
other without the intervention of central coordination.
This choice was, in a sense, forced, since the regional networks do
not normally speak a common language both in a real or metaphorical sense. The problems faced by the network of the Indian subcon-
98
The Talitha
kum network
tinent are very different from those encountered in Europe, which in
turn are different from Central America and so on.
At the time of writing this book the structure remains the same,
but it is possible, as already discussed in the constitution during the
congress in 2009, to develop a more open coordination, for example
through the establishment of a virtual board composed of the coordinators of the regional networks.
In conclusion, it should be noted that the structure of a network is
modified according to the changes of the external or internal environments. Examples are: a) Change in the modus operandi of the
traffickers might now require a continuous dialogue between two
members who previously had no interest in dialogue or b) growth of
skills - as some network members develop new skills these can be
shared by other members not belonging to the same region.
99
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106
APPENDIX
Test “The natural response”
Instructions: Please, after you have read each story, choose the
most spontaneous answer among those listed from 1 to 6.
CASO 1:Woman, aged 37 (with tired voice)
“ I really don’t know what to do. Ah, I really don’t know if I have to
keep my job as operator…it gets on my nerves….I can barely stand
it anymore….but it is a full time job with a good salary; so, then, I
could give it up and start with something else more rewarding for
me, maybe a less monotonous job, but this could turn in starting
from the beginning with a low salary….I’m not sure if I’m able to
cope with it.
ANSWERS
1. First of all, would you mind telling me what are you interested
in? It is important to deepen this point together carefully.
2. Be careful, before diving into something new. You should be confident about its advantages not leaving what you have settled for
something uncertain…
3. Nothing to be scared about! We just need to find out which
branch of the company you could be moved to. I could arrange
a meeting with the person in charge….
4. You are basically embarrassed for two reasons: on one hand you
are hesitant in leaving your current job, on the other hand you
are not able to point firmly to another one….
5. It is really a hard decision, isn’t it? Either to run the risks related
to the new job experience or to choose the quietness of the one
that you don’t like….
6. You are worrying too much! Wasting you away won’t make you
able to work out a solution. You shouldn’t push yourself at this
point. Relax and everything will be ok.
107
CASE 2: Man aged 30 (tired voice, naive, rough)
“I’m behaving in a very strange way: When something nice happens
to me, I simply can’t believe it, and I pretend nothing happened! I’m
so angry! I would have paid for a date with Laura. I followed her for
weeks before raising the courage and asking her for a date……and
she replied yes!! I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe it so much
that…in the end I didn’t go….
ANSWERS
1. You have to grow up, my friend, and try to be more realistic regarding women. They are human beings the same as everyone
else: they desire to meet other people like you do….
2. So anything nice seems unreal when it happens to you ….
3. You are so convinced that nothing nice could happen to you that
when it happens you are not able to consider it as true….
4. I wonder if your “emotional block” can be related to a particular
event that happened in your life. Would you mind going deeper
into the meaning of “when something nice happens to me”?
5. Do you think it’s worth worrying so much about this? All of us
had to overcome difficulties about relationships. I’m convinced
that you will be able to overcome this situation.
6. I guess that this experience will teach you something. Next time
you will have to accept your good luck….
108
CASE 3: Man aged 35 (talking loudly and aggressively)
“I’m ready to do something, I’m not scared about working hard,
I’m not scared of being hit hard provided I can “see” where I’m
going. I can easily overcome anyone on my way because I want
everything for me! I can’t feel satisfied with a normal job! I want
to reach my goals and to be someone….”
ANSWERS
1. Come on, you are so ambitious because you have to prove your
value to yourself…
2. Do you believe that it is important to be always the first, not
considering the efforts and the ways used to achieve the goals?
3. What is pushing you to try to be someone?
4. Would you be interested in some tests to determine where you
could succeed? It could be worth it for you, even it is possible that, with your determination, you could succeed in many
fields….
5. A great ambition can be useful…however, are you really convinced about what you have said, that you’ll be able to overcome anyone on your way to success? Don’t you think this
could turn out in the end, to be more negative than positive
for you?
6. Your opinions are so fixed! I think that you are reacting to a
recent delusion. You should be calm and reflect carefully; in this
way you will be able to reach your goals with enthusiasm….
Case 4: woman aged 30 (low voice)
“I’ve been living in this city for ten years and I’ve been living in
the same apartment for seven, but I didn’t meet anyone. It seems
impossible to make new friends in the office. It is as if I were paralyzed. I make many efforts to be friendly with other colleagues but
I feel uncomfortable; then I say to myself that I don’t care. ….You
can’t rely on people….. Everyone for himself…. I don’t need friends
and sometimes I can convince myself….”
109
ANSWERS
1. You are too pessimistic! Things can’t go on always in this way.
Sooner or later you will see other people coming to you….
2. I know other persons in the same situation: however they were
able to build up some fulfilling relationships joining the association called “our leisure time”. It is important to be not convinced
that we are forced to stay alone….
3. Maybe if you tell me something about your strategies in seeking
friends we will have a clearer idea about what’s wrong…
4. This situation has been lasting for so long that you have convinced yourself. Is this the meaning of what you’ve said before?
5. Maybe you are not interested in friendship because you are protecting yourself from something else?
6. The lack of friends is unpleasant and we have to deal with it.
There are a number of things that you could learn and the sooner you start the better.
CASE 5: man (former soldier) aged 30 (strong and clear
voice)
“Who cares! Nobody behaves fairly with me. Those who stayed at
home have had the best chances and they made use of us while
we fought. I curse them all. They gamble. Regarding my wife….
(silence) …….ah, yes……
ANSWERS
1. Did you begin to say something on your wife….
2. You feel exploited and this gets you angry….
3. You consider yourself discriminated against and this makes you
angry because you believe that you have a greater right to be
supported than the others…
4. I do understand your feelings, but you’ll never go ahead if you
don’t overcome them….
5. You are not the only one that feels furious. ..And your reasons are
valid. However, as time goes by you will forget it and start again….
6. You are attracted by the idea of revenge, but this is very problematic, isn’t it?
110
CASE 6: man aged 36 (loud and clear voice)
“I know that I could easily tackle this problem; all I need is: to
visualize the global framework of the problem, a bit of rationality and some audacity. I’m equipped enough, and if I were helped
with some money, I wouldn’t hesitate to try….”
ANSWERS
1. Maybe you need a good financial advisor. You always need some
information before getting loans….
2. Perfect! You have to have great confidence in yourself if you
want to reach something. A hesitant start can lead to failure. You
are on the right path and I wish you success….
3. If you were funded you would be sure to obtain a profit…
4. You are self confident about your project because you are aware
of what is needed for the success of your business. Self confidence comes out by itself when you see the things so clearly
5. Have you already considered all the risks that you have to run?
6. You are very concerned about money, the way to get it and how
to use it.
CASE 7: man aged 46 (harsh and nervous voice)
“So, he is the new one that just joined the company, he is very
clever, he always has the right answer, he believes himself to be
a genius…. But, for God’s sake, he doesn’t know who he is dealing
with. I could do better than him if I…..!”
ANSWERS
1. You do think that you have to be the first. It is very important for
you to stay in “pole position”.
2. With this attitude towards him you are not behaving in the best
way…
3. You need a strategy to handle the situation properly. You have
to be careful…
4. This newcomer seems so ambitious that it stimulates your will-
111
ingness to do better….
5. Just relax! Why do you consider it so important to perform better
than him?
6. Have you got some information about his former position and his
current role within the company? What do you know about it?
CASE 8: woman aged 28 (angry and nervous voice)
“When I look at her! She is not as pretty as I am, she’s also less
clever, she has no style and I’m constantly wondering why so many
people like her. She is always able to gain their admiration. I can’t
stand her! She drives me crazy! She has all she wants! She took
my post, she’s got Marcus, she has literally stolen him from me, and
after she denied! When I placed the reality in front of her and told
her what I thought she just replied: “I’m sorry”. So well, I’ll teach
her something ….”
ANSWERS
1. Does she look like someone else that you already dealth with?
2. You do think she gets what you believe is yours?
3. It could be said that you have a sort of unfair attitude toward
her. We all have prejudices towards others but occasionally we
get something positive from them.
4. It is a typical case of jealousy caused by someone that maybe is
more skilled than you.
5. Why don’t you observe her carefully and try to defeat her on her
field? If she is a gambler, you have the chance to “say the last
word”.
6. At your age you are very sensitive to frustrations, but at the
same time life experience and rationality often turn out to be an
advantage.
112
CASE 9: conversation between Luka and its company’s M.D.
“So Luka, how is it with your colleagues?
Ah, let them go to hell! I tried to do my best, but the director and
his vice got angry with me because I made some mistakes filling
out a complicated invoice. I did my best, I really did, but when they
stand up and say it is not enough…. this clearly shows me that I’m
useless….”
ANSWERS
1. Come on Luka, try to make the point! Is what has happened
really so serious? Please no panic….
2. In other words, when you are criticized you have the tendency
to feel guilty?
3. You did your best, but when they showed you some of your mistakes you suddenly started thinking yourself to be of no value.
4. Come on, if you let this discourage you, then you really show
that you are of little value.
5. Tell me Luka, it is only this that led you to underestimate yourself?
6. At this point, you should take into consideration all the goals that
you have already achieved and disregard the imperfections. Please
look at things in a blanced way. You have had your successes.
CASE 10: dialogue between a student and his/her tutor
“Come in! What can I do for you?
I was wondering if you could help me in the planning of the next
quarter’s program. I’ve asked for advice on my choices, but everyone has a different suggestion and it is very difficult for me to
make the right decision. I’m in trouble because this is my first year
attending and I really don’t know what would be the best for me…”.
ANSWERS
1. If I understood you correctly, you think that your problem needs
an external aid, in other words it is something that you are not
113
able to face on your own.
2. Would you like to talk about your field of specialization and
about the different options that you might insert into your program?
3. Come on! It would help you more if you had a higher value on
what you yourself really think in order to decide what you need
and what you want, instead of listening to others’ suggestions.
4. I’m wondering whether the solution to your problems lies in the
trust you place on yourself or on the choice about the courses.
5. I know, sometimes it is quite difficult to find your place inside
the university structure.
6. Have you already verified if the number of hours that you need
in order to follow the courses and matched these with your
available time?
CASE
CASE
CASE
CASE
CASE
CASE
CASE
CASE
CASE
CASE
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
A
B
C
D
E
F
2
1
5
6
6
2
5
3
4
3
4
2
1
5
2
6
1
4
2
2
6
5
6
1
5
4
3
6
1
5
1
4
3
3
1
5
6
1
5
6
3
6
4
2
4
1
2
5
6
4
5
3
2
4
3
3
4
2
3
1
A
Evaluation Attitude, judgmental, based on the caregivers’ ethic
B
Interpretation Attitude, which modifies the client’s thought or
requires its explanation
C
Emotional support Attitude, sympathetic, warm, supportive
D
Investigation - Research Attitude, research for further information
E
Problem
a
F
solving
solution
or
Understanding
on)
as
Attitude,
immediate
Attitude,
precisely
114
as
try
possible
active
research
proposal
to
what
for
repeat
has
for
solution
(reflect
been
told
Talitha Kum
Training Manual
Weaving a web is a skill that you learn while watching, with interest and
attention, the hands of those who carefully weave the threads and knots, as
the canvas grows and takes the desired shape.
Weaving a network is a method of working that favours gestures and tools
that unite, as participants come together, facilitating interaction and encounter. The threads, bound together in a network become more resistant
and are transformed by the process.
This text is the development of the 2004 edition, edited by Stefano Volpicelli and published by the IOM International Organization for Migration, as
part of the “Training Program for Religious Personnel Working to Counteract
Trafficking in Persons”, developed together with the US Embassy to the Holy
See and funded by the US government. This work has contributed to the
formation of Talitha Kum.
For Women Religious Active
and Assisting its Victims
www.talithakum.info
www.uisg.org
January 2016

Talitha Kum Training Manual

Transcription

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Sex Trafficking 101: Modern-Day Slavery in Our Community

English - BPW Canada

The USSR`s Role in Imbalanced Sex Ratios at Birth and Human